Magnetic fields of 30 to 100 kG in the cores of red giant stars.

A red giant star is an evolved low- or intermediate-mass star that has exhausted its central hydrogen content, leaving a helium core and a hydrogen-burning shell. Oscillations of stars can be observed as periodic dimmings and brightenings in the optical light curves. In red giant stars, non-radial acoustic waves couple to gravity waves and give rise to mixed modes, which behave as pressure modes in the envelope and gravity modes in the core. These modes have previously been used to measure the internal rotation of red giants1,2, leading to the conclusion that purely hydrodynamical processes of angular momentum transport from the core are too inefficient3. Magnetic fields could produce the additional required transport4-6. However, owing to the lack of direct measurements of magnetic fields in stellar interiors, little is currently known about their properties. Asteroseismology can provide direct detection of magnetic fields because, like rotation, the fields induce shifts in the oscillation mode frequencies7-12. Here we report the measurement of magnetic fields in the cores of three red giant stars observed with the Kepler13 satellite. The fields induce shifts that break the symmetry of dipole mode multiplets. We thus measure field strengths ranging from about 30 kilogauss to about 100 kilogauss in the vicinity of the hydrogen-burning shell and place constraints on the field topology.

Seismic constraints on rotation of Sun-like star and mass of exoplanet.

Rotation is thought to drive cyclic magnetic activity in the Sun and Sun-like stars. Stellar dynamos, however, are poorly understood owing to the scarcity of observations of rotation and magnetic fields in stars. Here, inferences are drawn on the internal rotation of a distant Sun-like star by studying its global modes of oscillation. We report asteroseismic constraints imposed on the rotation rate and the inclination of the spin axis of the Sun-like star HD 52265, a principal target observed by the CoRoT satellite that is known to host a planetary companion. These seismic inferences are remarkably consistent with an independent spectroscopic observation (rotational line broadening) and with the observed rotation period of star spots. Furthermore, asteroseismology constrains the mass of exoplanet HD 52265b. Under the standard assumption that the stellar spin axis and the axis of the planetary orbit coincide, the minimum spectroscopic mass of the planet can be converted into a true mass of 1.85(-0.42)(+0.52)M(Jupiter), which implies that it is a planet, not a brown dwarf.

Solar-like oscillations in a massive star.

Seismology of stars provides insight into the physical mechanisms taking place in their interior, with modes of oscillation probing different layers. Low-amplitude acoustic oscillations excited by turbulent convection were detected four decades ago in the Sun and more recently in low-mass main-sequence stars. Using data gathered by the Convection Rotation and Planetary Transits mission, we report here on the detection of solar-like oscillations in a massive star, V1449 Aql, which is a known large-amplitude (beta Cephei) pulsator.