2022/10/30 by Adam F. Kowalski, Kowalski, Adam F.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2210.16980
openalex publication_date 2022/10/30 · openalex created_date 2022/11/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
White-light stellar flares are now reported by the thousands in long-baseline, high precision, broad-band photometry from missions like Kepler, K2, and TESS. These observations are crucial inputs for assessments of biosignatures in exoplanetary atmospheres and surface ultraviolet radiation dosages for habitable zone planets around low-mass stars. A limitation of these assessments, however, is the lack of near-ultraviolet spectral observations of stellar flares. To motivate further empirical investigation, we use a grid of radiative-hydrodynamic simulations with an updated treatment of the pressure broadening of hydrogen lines to predict the λ≈ 1800-3300 Å continuum flux during the rise and peak phases of a well-studied superflare from the dM3e star AD Leo. These predictions are based on semi-empirical superpositions of radiative flux spectra consisting of a high-flux electron beam simulation with a large, low-energy cutoff (\gtrsim 85 keV) and a lower-flux electron beam simulation with a smaller, low-energy cutoff (\lesssim 40 keV). The two-component models comprehensively explain the hydrogen Balmer line broadening, the optical continuum color temperature, the Balmer jump strength, and the far-ultraviolet continuum strength and shape in the rise/peak phase of this flare. We use spatially resolved analyses of solar flare data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, combined with the results of previous radiative-hydrodynamic modeling of the 2014 Mar 29 X1 solar flare (SOL20140329T17:48), to interpret the two-component electron beam model as representing the spatial superposition of bright kernels and fainter ribbons over a larger area.