A Hot Ultraviolet Flare on the M Dwarf Star GJ 674

• Published in: Astrophysical journal. Letters Vol. 871; no. 2; p. L26
• Main Authors: Froning, Cynthia S., Kowalski, Adam, France, Kevin, Loyd, R. O. Parke, Schneider, P. Christian, Youngblood, Allison, Wilson, David, Brown, Alexander, Berta-Thompson, Zachory, Pineda, J. Sebastian, Linsky, Jeffrey, Rugheimer, Sarah, Miguel, Yamila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Austin The American Astronomical Society 01.02.2019; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Atmospheric chemistry; Atmospheric models; Color temperature; Continuum radiation; Dwarf stars; Emissions; Extrasolar planets; Hubble Space Telescope; Hydrodynamic models; M stars; Organic chemistry; Planetary systems; planets and satellites: atmospheres; Red dwarf stars; Space telescopes; Spectroscopy; stars: activity; stars: chromospheres; stars: flare; stars: individual (GJ 674); stars: low-mass; Stellar flares; Ultraviolet spectra; Ultraviolet spectroscopy
• ISSN: 2041-8205; 2041-8213
• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aaffcd

As part of the Mega-Measurements of the Ultraviolet Spectral Characteristics of Low-Mass Exoplanetary Systems Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury program, we obtained time-series ultraviolet spectroscopy of the M2.5V star, GJ 674. During the far-ultraviolet (FUV) monitoring observations, the target exhibited several small flares and one large flare (EFUV = 1030.75 erg) that persisted over the entirety of an HST orbit and had an equivalent duration >30,000 s, comparable to the highest relative amplitude event previously recorded in the FUV. The flare spectrum exhibited enhanced line emission from chromospheric, transition region, and coronal transitions and a blue FUV continuum with an unprecedented color temperature of TC 40,000 10,000 K. In this Letter, we compare the flare FUV continuum emission with parameterizations of radiative hydrodynamic model atmospheres of M star flares. We find that the observed flare continuum can be reproduced using flare models but only with the ad hoc addition of a hot, dense emitting component. This observation demonstrates that flares with hot FUV continuum temperatures and significant extreme-ultraviolet/FUV energy deposition will continue to be of importance to exoplanet atmospheric chemistry and heating, even as the host M dwarfs age beyond their most active evolutionary phases.