Constraining Stellar Coronal Mass Ejections through Multi-wavelength Analysis of the Active M Dwarf EQ Peg
Abstract
Stellar coronal mass ejections remain experimentally unconstrained, unlike their stellar flare counterparts, which are observed ubiquitously across the electromagnetic spectrum. Low-frequency radio bursts in the form of a type II burst offer the best means of identifying and constraining the rate and properties of stellar CMEs. CME properties can be further improved through the use of proposed solar-stellar scaling relations and multi-wavelength observations of CMEs through the use of type II bursts and the associated flares expected to occur alongside them. We report on 20 hr of observation of the nearby, magnetically active, and well-characterized M dwarf star EQ Peg. The observations are simultaneously observed with the Jansky Very Large Array at their P-band (230-470 MHz) and at the Apache Point observatory in the SDSS uā² filter (Ī» = 3557 Ć ). Dynamic spectra of the P-band data, constructed to search for signals in the frequency-time domains, did not reveal evidence of drifting radio bursts that could be ascribed to type II bursts. Given the sensitivity of our observations, we are able to place limits on the brightness temperature and source size of any bursts that may have occurred. Using solar scaling rations on four observed stellar flares, we predict CME parameters. Given the constraints on coronal density and photospheric field strength, our models suggest that the observed flares would have been insufficient to produce detectable type II bursts at our observed frequencies. We consider the implications of these results, and other recent findings, on stellar mass loss.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- March 2018
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1802.03440
- Bibcode:
- 2018ApJ...856...39C
- Keywords:
-
- stars: coronae;
- stars: flare;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 35 pages, 7 figures
