A Deep Radio Limit for the TRAPPIST-1 System

Abstract

The first nearby very-low-mass star–planet-host discovered, TRAPPIST-1, presents not only a unique opportunity for studying a system of multiple terrestrial planets, but a means to probe magnetospheric interactions between a star at the end of the main sequence and its close-in satellites. This encompasses both the possibility of persistent coronal solar-like activity, despite cool atmospheric temperatures, and the presence of large-scale magnetospheric currents, similar to what is seen in the Jovian system. Significantly, the current systems include a crucial role for close-in planetary satellites analogous to the role played by the Galilean satellites around Jupiter. We present the first radio observations of the seven-planet TRAPPIST-1 system using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, looking for both highly circularly polarized radio emission and/or persistent quiescent emissions. We measure a broadband upper flux density limit of <8.1 μJy across 4–8 GHz, and place these observations both in the context of expectations for stellar radio emission, and the possible electrodynamic engines driving strong radio emissions in very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, with implications for future radio surveys of TRAPPIST-1 like planet-hosts. We conclude that the magnetic activity of TRAPPIST-1 is predominantly coronal and does not behave like the strong radio emitters at the stellar/substellar boundary. We further discuss the potential importance of magnetic field topology and rotation rates, demonstrating that a TRAPPIST-1 like planetary system around a rapidly rotating very-low-mass star can generate emission consistent with the observed radio luminosities of very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs.