First radius measurements of very low mass stars with the VLTI

Abstract

We present 4 very low mass stars radii measured with the VLTI using the 2.2 μm VINCI test instrument. The observations were carried out during the commissioning of the 104-meter-baseline with two 8-meter-telescopes. We measure angular diameters of 0.7-1.5 mas with accuracies of 0.04-0.11 mas, and for spectral type ranging from M0V to M5.5V. We determine an empirical mass-radius relation for M dwarfs based on all available radius measurements. The observed relation agrees well with theoretical models at the present accuracy level, with possible discrepancy around 0.5-0.8 M⊙ that needs to be confirmed. In the near future, dozens of M dwarfs radii will be measured with 0.1-1% accuracy, with the VLTI, thanks to the improvements expected from the near infrared instrument AMBER. This will bring strong observational constraints on both atmosphere and interior physics.