The Multiple Continuum Components in the White-Light Flare of 16 January 2009 on the dM4.5e Star YZ CMi |
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Authors: | A F Kowalski S L Hawley J A Holtzman J P Wisniewski E J Hilton |
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Institution: | 1.Astronomy Department,University of Washington,Seattle,USA;2.Department of Astronomy,New Mexico State University,Las Cruces,USA |
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Abstract: | The white light during M dwarf flares has long been known to exhibit the broadband shape of a T≈10 000 K blackbody, and the white light in solar-flares is thought to arise primarily from hydrogen recombination. Yet, a
current lack of broad-wavelength coverage solar flare spectra in the optical/near-UV region prohibits a direct comparison
of the continuum properties to determine if they are indeed so different. New spectroscopic observations of a secondary flare
during the decay of a megaflare on the dM4.5e star YZ CMi have revealed multiple components in the white-light continuum of
stellar flares, including both a blackbody-like spectrum and a hydrogen-recombination spectrum. One of the most surprising
findings is that these two components are anti-correlated in their temporal evolution. We combine initial phenomenological
modeling of the continuum components with spectra from radiative hydrodynamic models to show that continuum veiling causes
the measured anti-correlation. This modeling allows us to use the components’ inferred properties to predict how a similar
spatially resolved, multiple-component, white-light continuum might appear using analogies to several solar-flare phenomena.
We also compare the properties of the optical stellar flare white light to Ellerman bombs on the Sun. |
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