Optical follow-up of ASAS-SN M dwarf flares

DOI

The All-sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) is the only project in existence to scan the entire sky in optical light approximately every day, reaching a depth of g~18mag. Over the course of its first 4yr of transient alerts (2013-2016), ASAS-SN observed 53 events classified as likely M dwarf flares. We present follow-up photometry and spectroscopy of all 53 candidates, confirming flare events on 47 M dwarfs, one K dwarf, and one L dwarf. The remaining four objects include a previously identified T Tauri star, a young star with outbursts, and two objects too faint to confirm. A detailed examination of the 49 flare star light curves revealed an additional six flares on five stars, resulting in a total of 55 flares on 49 objects ranging in V-band contrast from {Delta}V=-1 to -10.2mag. Using an empirical flare model to estimate the unobserved portions of the flare light curve, we obtain lower limits on the V-band energy emitted during each flare, spanning log(E_V_/erg)=32-35, which are among the most energetic flares detected on M dwarfs. The ASAS-SN M dwarf flare stars show a higher fraction of H{alpha} emission, as well as stronger H{alpha} emission, compared to M dwarfs selected without reference to activity, consistent with belonging to a population of more magnetically active stars. We also examined the distribution of tangential velocities, finding that the ASAS-SN flaring M dwarfs are likely to be members of the thin disk and are neither particularly young nor old.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/876/115/table2 (Observation log for the 53 candidates)

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/876/115/flarestars (Properties (Table 1) and kinematics (Table 5) of the 49 ASAS-SN flare dwarfs)

Identifier
DOI http://doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier.18760115
Source https://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/lp/custom/CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/876/115
Related Identifier https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/876/115
Related Identifier http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/876/115
Metadata Access http://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/pmh/pubreg.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_b2find&identifier=ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/876/115
Provenance
Creator Schmidt S.J.; Shappee B.J.; van Saders J.L.; Stanek K.Z.; Brown J.S.,Kochanek C.S.; Dong S.; Drout M.R.; Frank S.; Holoien T.W.-S.; Johnson S.,Madore B.F.; Prieto J.L.; Seibert M.; Seidel M.K.; Simonian G.V.A.
Publisher CDS
Publication Year 2021
Rights https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.html
OpenAccess true
Contact CDS support team <cds-question(at)unistra.fr>
Representation
Resource Type Dataset; AstroObjects
Discipline Astrophysics and Astronomy; Galactic and extragalactic Astronomy; Interdisciplinary Astronomy; Natural Sciences; Observational Astronomy; Physics; Stellar Astronomy