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Skumanich Law

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Definition

An empirical relationship, discovered by Andrew Skumanich in 1972, between the rotation rate of a star and its age is referred to as the Skumanich Law. The equatorial speed of a star at its equator falls as the inverse square root of the star’s age, for ages between 100 Myr and 10 Gyr. This law has only been established for solar-type objects, i.e., main-sequence stars of spectral type G. Along with the rotation rate, the surface activity of such stars, such as their X-ray emission, also declines in a similar manner. This activity arises ultimately from the star’s surface magnetic field. Slowing of the rotation rate occurs because solar-type stars also emit winds. Such magnetized outflows carry off angular momentum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Steven W. Stahler

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  1. Steven W. Stahler
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Correspondence to Steven W. Stahler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Stahler, S.W. (2014). Skumanich Law. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1450-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1450-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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