Rotational modulation and flares on RS Canum Venaticorum and BY Draconis stars. X - The 1981 October 3 flare on V711 Tauri (=HR 1099)
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The habitability of planets around M dwarfs (. 0:5M ) can be a ected by the XUV (X rays + extreme UV) emission of these stars, with flares occasionally increasing the XUV flux by more than 2 orders of magnitude above quiescent levels. This wavelength range can warm and ionize terrestrial planets' upper atmospheres, which expands the planetary radius and promotes atmospheric loss. In this work, we study the contribution of the XUV flux due to flares on the atmospheric escape of Earth-like planets orbiting M dwarfs through numerical simulations. We considered the fi rst Gyr of planets with initial surface water abundances between 1 and 10 terrestrial oceans (TO), a small primordial hydrogen envelope ( 103 M), and with host star masses between 0.2 and 0.6 M . In this parameter range, we fi nd that flares can remove up to two TO more than non flaring stars, which, in some cases, translates to a doubling of the total water loss. We also fi nd that flaring can increase atmospheric oxygen partial pressures by hundreds of bars in some cases. These results were obtained by adding a new module for flares to the VPLanet software package and upgrading its atmospheric escape module to account for Roche lobe overflow and radiation/recombination-limited escape.
Time-trailed UV spectra and a soft X-ray lightcurve were obtained during a flare on the binary dMe star EQ Peg AB. On the basis of solar flare Mg II surface fluxes and an about 70-percent enhancement in the disk-integrated flux during the flare on EQ Peg, it is estimated that the chromospheric flare covered about 1.5 percent of the stellar surface. The size scale is estimated to be comparable to that of a solar two-ribbon flare. This unusual flare is noted to exhibit a low-energy soft X-ray rise phase which is longer than that of most flares; it is longer than the decay phase and peaks much later than the medium energy light curve. Evidence of variable Fe II emission and variable continuum emission in select UV bands during the flare is noted.
The UV Ceti-type stars YZ Canis Minoris, AD Leonis, Wolf 424, and V371 Orionis were monitored with the Arecibo radio telescope at meter wavelengths. A total of 26 flares were recorded on YZ CMi, AD Leo, and Wolf 424. The observed flares had shorter durations and smaller amplitudes than those previously reported in the literature. Rates of radio-flare detection are similar to those found optically.
The YZ Canis Minoris (Gliese 285), a late-type dwarf star with Balmer emission (dM4.5e), is a member of the UV Ceti class of flare stars. Obtaining good X-ray observations of a dMe star flare is important not only for understanding the physics of flares but also for testing current ideas regarding the similarity between stellar and solar flares. The Einstein X-ray Observatory has made it possible to conduct X-ray observations of dMe stars with unprecedented sensitivity. A description is presented of the results of a program of ground-based optical and radio observations of YZ CMi coordinated with those of the Einstein Observatory. The observations were carried out as part of a coordinated program on October 25, 26, and 27, 1979, when YZ CMi was on the dawn side of the earth. Comprehensive observational data were obtained of an event detected in all three wavelength regions on October 25, 1979.
Research on solar and stellar flares is reviewed. The characteristics of flares in various spectral regions are described, and the physics of flares is discussed, including the two-ribbon flare model, coronal mass ejections, flare dynamics, white light flare production, and electron beams and proton beams in hard X-ray flares. The analysis of the flare energy budget, magnetic field measurements, multispectral stellar observations, plasma emissivity, conditions in flare loops, cooling curves, and proton beam signatures is addressed. Microflaring and coronal heating are examined.
After a long delay due to the initial problems with the ALEXIS attitude control, the heroic efforts on the part of the ALEXIS satellite team enabled us to carry out this survey. However, the combination of the higher than expected and variable background in the ALEXIS detectors, and the lower throughput of the ALEXIS telescopes resulted in no convincing detections of large flares from the active binary systems. In addition, vignetting-corrected effective exposure times from the ALEXIS aspect solution were not available prior to the end of this contract; therefore, we were unable to convert upper limits measured in ALEXIS counts to the equivalent.
High-resolution IUE SWP and LWP spectra of the bright eclipsing RS CVn system AR Lac, obtained during 40 h of continuous observations on September 18-19, 1985, are compiled and used to derive chromosphere images. The data and results are presented graphically and discussed in detail. The K 0 IV star is found to have a globally brighter trailing hemisphere and at least three distinct plage regions; the G 2 IV star has a flaring region with significant redshift and line-emission broadening and exhibits factor-of-3 variability in total emission, attributed to the presence of a large chromospherically inactive region.
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As part of a coordinated program of multi-wavelength observations of RS CVn close binary systems, we observed 15 systems with the Very Large Array (VLA) and 10 systems with IUE, simultaneously or nearly simultaneously with the ROSAT All Sky Survey observations of these stars. Of the 22 systems observed with ROSAT, three were observed both by IUE and the VLA. Radio observations were made at 3.6, 6 and 20 cm. Of the 15 observed RS CVn systems, we detected 11 with greater than 4 sigma confidence at one or more wavelengths. The IUE observations were made within the RIASS (ROSAT-IUE All Sky Survey) program. We present the results of the VLA observations, along with the corresponding subsets of the ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) X-ray and Wide Field Camera (WFC) XUV survey, and RIASS IUE observations. We obtained an extended VLA/IUE/ROSAT simultaneous coverage of one system, TY Pyx, covering more than one orbital period. These observations reveal that the quiescent radio flux of TY Pyx is relatively constant over time scales of up to 7 hours, but that it did change by a factor of 3 over 24 hours, probably due to a flare on 1990 Nov. 12. The UV, XUV and X-ray fluxes do not show large day-to-day or phase-related variability. The observation of the decay phase of a radio flare on EI Eri, with no accompanying X-ray or XUV flare, suggests that the lack of a strong correlation between X-ray and radio flares previously noted for dMe flare stars holds for RS CVn systems as well. We suggest that the radio flare may have been due to a coherent emission process such as electron cyclotron emission. The simultaneous measurements presented here provide a unique test of the general correlation between radio and soft X-ray luminosities, L(sub radio) approximately L(sub x exp m) (Drake et al. 1989) with a power-law slope close to unity, which was previously derived using data obtained years apart. Our derived slopes are consistent with and thus support the general correlations between coronal and chromospheric/transition region emissions previously derived from nonsimultaneous measurements of a much larger sample of these variable sources. However, the importance of simultaneous measurements for accurate energy balance calculations is stressed.
On 2014 April 23, the Swift satellite responded to a hard X-ray transient detected by its Burst Alert Telescope, which turned out to be a stellar flare from a nearby, young M dwarf binary DG CVn. We utilize observations at X-ray, UV, optical, and radio wavelengths to infer the properties of two large flares. The X-ray spectrum of the primary outburst can be described over the 0.3100 kiloelectron volts bandpass by either a single very high-temperature plasma or a nonthermal thick-target bremsstrahlung model, and we rule out the nonthermal model based on energetic grounds. The temperatures were the highest seen spectroscopically in a stellar flare, at T(sub x) of 290 megakelvin. The first event was followed by a comparably energetic event almost a day later. We constrain the photospheric area involved in each of the two flares to be greater than 10(exp 20) sq cm, and find evidence from flux ratios in the second event of contributions to the white light flare emission in addition to the usual hot, T approximately 10(exp 4) K blackbody emission seen in the impulsive phase of flares. The radiated energy in X-rays and white light reveal these events to be the two most energetic X-ray flares observed from an M dwarf, with X-ray radiated energies in the 0.3-10 kiloelectron volts bandpass of 4 x 10(exp 35) and 9 x 10(exp 35) erg, and optical flare energies at E(sub V) of 2.8 x 10(exp 34) and 5.2 x 10(exp 34) erg, respectively. The results presented here should be integrated into updated modeling of the astrophysical impact of large stellar flares on close-in exoplanetary atmospheres.
The mechanism proposed involves the occurrence of a flare in a region of high magnetic field on the surface of a star. The flare produces oscillations in the magnetic field structure. The oscillations lead to heating of the plasma in a flux tube which emits thermal radiation. The heating may be caused by magnetic pumping or particles accelerated in periodic bursts by the flare. Synchrotron radiation from high energy particles accounts for the hard X-ray emission.
Properties and parameters of UV flares have been observed from RS CVn systems approximately once per few days observing time. The peak flare luminosities are five or six orders of magnitude more intense than the most energetic solar flares. The nonradiative energy losses, e.g., turbulence and flows, are likely to be at least comparable to the radiative loss.
CCD frames of CZ Cnc, KY Cep, the gamma-ray burster optical transient, and NSV 12006 are analyzed. Also studied are 549 archival photographic plates of the CZ Cnc field. These observations are compared with the data of Lovas (1976). Flare events on CZ Cnc are examined. Based on the data it is noted that CZ Cnc is a main-sequence star, has a magnitude of 16.1, a distance of 100 pc, occasional large-amplitude flares, and frequent flares with amplitudes greater than 4 mag.
Stellar magnetic field is the driver of activity in stars and cantrigger spots, energetic flares, coronal plasma ejections and ionizedwinds. These phenomena play a crucial role in understanding theinternal mechanisms of the star, but can also have potential effectsin orbiting planets. During the transit of a planet, spots can beocculted producing features imprinted in the transit light curve.Here, we modelled these features to characterize the physicalproperties of the spots (radius, intensity, and location). Inaddition, we monitor spots signatures on multiple transits to estimatemagnetic cycles length of Kepler stars. Flares have also been observedduring transits in active stars. We derive the properties of theflares and analyse their UV impact on possible living organisms inplanets orbiting in the habitable zone.
Evidence is presented for spots, plages, and flares on the noneclipsing RS CVn system II Peg and V 711 Tau. The large spot originally found on II Peg in 1981.8 could still be identified in 1983. Two spectroscopic flares of II Peg were detected. For the larger flare the fluxes in the strongest transition-region lines reached about six times their quiescent values. A comparison of the 1981 and 1983 flux variations show that active regions or plages are located on one hemisphere. On V 711 Tau at least two flares were observed. Outside of these flares, the strongest chromospheric and transition-region emission lines exhibited weak phase-dependent variations that persist over 173 orbital cycles (1981-1983) and are possibly associated with one of the proposed spots. For both stellar systems the fluxes from the higher temperature emission lines showed the greatest variations.
As part of the ongoing process of trying to understand the physical processes at work in the Sun, the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) spacecraft was launched on February 14, 1980, near the height of the solar cycle, to enable the solar physics community to examine, in more physically meaningful detail than ever before, the most violent aspect of solar activity: flares. The scientific products of SMM are substantial: by 1986, over 400 papers based on SMM observations and their interpretations had appeared in scientific journals. More important than such numerical measures of success is the significance of the science that has come from SMM. The following topics, the Sun as a star, solar flares, and the active solar atmosphere, as well as other findings of SMM investigators are described. The instruments on the SMM are also described.