Searching for Stellar and Planetary Emission in Large Field-of-view Radio Sky Surveys

Abstract

Abstract Detection of low-frequency (≤1.4 GHz) radio emission from stellar and planetary systems can lead to new insights into stellar activity, extrasolar space weather, and planetary magnetic fields. In this work, we investigate three large field-of-view surveys at 74 MHz, 150 MHz, and 1.4 GHz, as well as a myriad of multiwavelength ancillary data, to search for radio emission from about 2600 stellar objects, including about 800 exoplanetary systems, 600 nearby low-mass stars, and 1200 young stellar objects located in the Taurus and Upper Scorpius star-forming regions. The selected sample encompasses stellar spectral types from B to L and distances between 5 and 300 pc. We report the redetection of five stars at 1.4 GHz, one of which also shows emission at 150 MHz. Four of these are low- and intermediate-mass young stars, and one is the evolved star α Sco. We also observe radio emission at the position of a young brown dwarf at 1.4 GHz and 150 MHz. However, due to the large astrometric uncertainty of radio observations, a follow-up study at higher angular resolution would be required to confirm whether the observed emission originates from the brown dwarf itself or a background object. Notably, all of the selected radio sources are located in nearby star-forming regions. Furthermore, we use image stacking and statistical methods to derive upper limits on the average quiescent radio luminosity of the families of objects under investigation. These analyses provide observational constraints for large-scale searches for current and ongoing low-frequency radio emissions from stars and planets.