Rotation and activity in field M dwarfs

From these observations we derive projected rotational velocities and fluxes in the H{alpha} and H{beta} lines. 8 stars are double-lined spectroscopic binaries with measured or probable periods short enough for rotation to be tidally synchronized with the orbit, and another 11 are visual binaries where we cannot yet separate the lines of the two stars.

Of the remaining 99 stars, 24 have rotational velocities above our detection limit of ~2km/s, and some are quite fast rotators, including two with vsini>30km/s and one with vsini~50km/s. Given the small radii of M dwarfs, these moderate rotational velocities correspond to rather short maximum rotational periods, of only 7-8 hours.