https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201510105002
Stellar magnetic activity – Star-Planet Interactions
1 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambrigde, MA 02138, USA
2 NASA Sagan Fellow
a e-mail: kpoppenhaeger@cfa.harvard.edu
Published online: 23 September 2015
Stellar magnetic activity is an important factor in the formation and evolution of exoplanets. Magnetic phenomena like stellar flares, coronal mass ejections, and high-energy emission affect the exoplanetary atmosphere and its mass loss over time. One major question is whether the magnetic evolution of exoplanet host stars is the same as for stars without planets; tidal and magnetic interactions of a star and its close-in planets may play a role in this. Stellar magnetic activity also shapes our ability to detect exoplanets with different methods in the first place, and therefore we need to understand it properly to derive an accurate estimate of the existing exoplanet population. I will review recent theoretical and observational results, as well as outline some avenues for future progress.
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2015
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
