Search results for "Flare star"
showing 10 items of 17 documents
A coronal explosion on the flare star CN Leonis
2008
We present simultaneous high-temporal and high-spectral resolution observations at optical and soft X-ray wavelengths of the nearby flare star CN Leo. During our observing campaign a major flare occurred, raising the star's instantaneous energy output by almost three orders of magnitude. The flare shows the often observed impulsive behavior, with a rapid rise and slow decay in the optical and a broad soft X-ray maximum about 200 seconds after the optical flare peak. However, in addition to this usually encountered flare phenomenology we find an extremely short (~2 sec) soft X-ray peak, which is very likely of thermal, rather than non-thermal nature and temporally coincides with the optical …
The Mouse That Roared: A Superflare from the dMe Flare Star EV Lac Detected by Swift and Konus-Wind
2010
We report on a large stellar flare from the nearby dMe flare star EV Lac observed by the Swift and Konus-Wind satellites and the Liverpool Telescope. It is the first large stellar flare from a dMe flare star to result in a Swift trigger based on its hard X-ray intensity. Its peak f_X from 0.3--100 keV of 5.3x10^-8 erg/cm2/s is nearly 7000 times larger than the star's quiescent coronal flux, and the change in magnitude in the white filter is >4.7. This flare also caused a transient increase in EV Lac's bolometric luminosity (L_bol) during the early stages of the flare, with a peak estimated L_X/L_bol ~3.1. We apply flare loop hydrodynamic modeling to the plasma parameter temporal changes …
Viewing the Sun as an X-ray star
2003
The Sun is the late-type star we can study with the highest level of detail. In the interpretation of stellar data, therefore, it is often assumed that the physical processes of the coronae of late-type stars are similar to those of the solar corona, i.e. the "solar-stellar analogy". In order to investigate the validity of this assumption, we have started a program to study systematically the Sun as an X-ray star. Our program aims to explore how far the solar model can be applied to other stars. In this paper we review the results obtained from these studies and, in particular, we discuss the variability of a star identical to the Sun during its cycle, the contribution of different coronal …
The cool Galactic R Coronae Borealis variable DY Persei
2005
Results of first CCD photometry during the recent deep light decline, and high-resolution spectroscopy, are presented for DY Persei. The spectra show variable blueshifted features in the sodium D lines. The C lines are strong whereas neutron- capture elements are not enhanced. The isotopic 13 CN(2, 0) lines relative to 12 CN are of similar strength with those for the carbon star U Hya. All these confirm the RCB nature of DY Per and the existence of ejected clouds. At least two clouds are revealed at −197.3 and −143.0 km s −1 . A star was detected about 0. 4t o the west and 2 . 5 to the north from DY Per. This anonymous companion, with observed colour indices (B − V) = 0.68 and (V − R) � 1…
Quiescent X-ray emission from an evolved brown dwarf ?
2004
I report on the X-ray detection of Gl569Bab. During a 25ksec Chandra observation the binary brown dwarf is for the first time spatially separated in X-rays from the flare star primary Gl569A. Companionship to Gl569A constrains the age of the brown dwarf pair to ~300-800 Myr. The observation presented here is only the second X-ray detection of an evolved brown dwarf. About half of the observing time is dominated by a large flare on Gl569Bab, the remainder is characterized by weak and non-variable emission just above the detection limit. This emission -- if not related to the afterglow of the flare -- represents the first detection of a quiescent corona on a brown dwarf, representing an impor…
Chandra study of the eclipsing M dwarf binary, YY Gem
2012
The eclipsing M dwarf binary system, YY Gem, was observed using Chandra covering 140 ks (2Prot) in total, split into two even exposures separated by 0.76 d (0.94 Prot). The system was extremely active: three energetic flares were observed over the course of these observations. The flaring and non-flaring states of the system are analysed in this paper. The activity level increased between the first and second observations even during the quiescent (non-flaring) phases. An analysis of the dynamics of the X-ray-emitting plasma suggests that both components are significantly active. Contemporaneous Hα spectra also suggest that both components show similar levels of activity. The primary star i…
Flare diagnostics from loop modeling of a stellar flare observed with XMM-Newton
2006
Abstract XMM-Newton data of an X-ray flare observed on Proxima Centauri provide detailed and challenging constraints for flare modeling. The comparison of the data with the results of time-dependent hydrodynamic loop modeling of this flare allows us to constrain not only the loop morphology, but also the details of the heating function. The results show that even a complex flare event like this can be described with a relatively few – though constrained – components: two loop systems, i.e., a single loop and an arcade, and two heat components, an intense pulse probably located at the loop footpoints followed by a low gradual decay distributed in the coronal part of the loop. The similarity …
X‐Ray Spectroscopy of the Unsteady Quiescent Corona of AD Leonis withChandra
2004
We present the analysis and interpretation of an observation of the flare star AD Leo (dM3e) with Chandra/LETG. The high resolution X-ray spectrum allowed us to infer the plasma emission measure distribution (EMD) vs. temperature, and the abundances of individual elements in the corona of this magnetically-active star, during a typical state characterized by significant variability but no large flaring event. We have also measured plasma densities at various temperatures using spectroscopic diagnostics provided by He-like triplets and Fe XXI lines. We show that the present EMD is similar to those previously obtained from EUVE spectra during quiescent and flaring states, confirming the long-…
A comparison between the X-ray variable Sun and solar-like main sequence stars
2003
We analyze the time variations of the solar X-ray luminosity observed with Yohkoh/SXT with the aim to compare the X-ray variability of the Sun with that of the other solar-like main sequence stars as function of the relevant time scales. Since the observational set-up and strategies used to observe the Sun dier from those used for the other stars, we have explored the solar X-ray variability properties starting from the available solar data, trying to reproduce the observational procedures adopted for the stars. We have quantified how the solar variability amplitude increases with the explored time scales and found that solar-cycle variability can contribute at most up to 60% to the spread …
BeppoSAX observation of a large long-duration X-ray flare from UX Arietis
2001
We present two X-ray observations of the RS CVn binary system UX Arietis performed with BeppoSAX in August 1997 and August 1998. A large flare lasting for about 1 day was detected during the rst observation, while the star was quiescent during the second one. Hard X-ray emission up to50 keV was detected in the PDS instrument during the rise and at the peak of the flare. Time-resolved spectroscopy of the flare with the LECS and MECS detectors shows that temperatures as high as 100 MK were reached at the flare peak; such high temperatures are responsible for the high-energy tail seen in the PDS. We conrm that the coronal abundance of UX Ari is strongly subsolar (Z=Z' 0:2 0:3); no signicant va…