30 Jul 2002 9:10 AR AR166-AA40-07.tex AR166-AA40-07.SGM LaTeX2e(2002/01/18) P1: IKH 10.1146/annurev.astro.40.060401.093806 Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 2002. 40:217–61 doi: 10.1146/annurev.astro.40.060401.093806 Copyright c 2002 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved STELLAR RADIO ASTRONOMY: Probing Stellar Atmospheres from Protostars to Giants Manuel Gudel¨ Paul Scherrer Institut, Wurenlingen¨ & Villigen, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland; email:
[email protected] Key Words radio stars, coronae, stellar winds, high-energy particles, nonthermal radiation, magnetic fields ■ Abstract Radio astronomy has provided evidence for the presence of ionized atmospheres around almost all classes of nondegenerate stars. Magnetically confined coronae dominate in the cool half of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Their radio emission is predominantly of nonthermal origin and has been identified as gyrosyn- chrotron radiation from mildly relativistic electrons, apart from some coherent emission mechanisms. Ionized winds are found in hot stars and in red giants. They are detected through their thermal, optically thick radiation, but synchrotron emission has been found in many systems as well. The latter is emitted presumably by shock-accelerated electrons in weak magnetic fields in the outer wind regions. Radio emission is also frequently detected in pre–main sequence stars and protostars and has recently been discovered in brown dwarfs. This review summarizes the radio view of the atmospheres of nondegenerate stars, focusing on energy release physics in cool coronal stars, wind phenomenology in hot stars and cool giants, and emission observed from young and forming stars. Eines habe ich in einem langen Leben gelernt, namlich,¨ dass unsere ganze Wissenschaft, an den Dingen gemessen, von kindlicher Primitivitat¨ ist—und doch ist es das Kostlichste,¨ was wir haben.