Detection of Radio Emission from Superflaring Solar-type Stars in the VLA Sky Survey

Radio emission has been detected from tens of white dwarfs, in particular in accreting systems. Additionally, radio emission has been predicted as a possible outcome of a planetary system around a white dwarf. We searched for 3 GHz radio continuum emission in 846 000 candidate white dwarfs previously identified in Gaia using the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) Epoch 1 Quick Look Catalogue. We identified 13 candidate white dwarfs with a counterpart in VLASS within 2 arcsec. Five of those were found not to be white dwarfs in follow-up or archival spectroscopy, whereas seven others were found to be chance alignments with a background source in higher resolution optical or radio images. The remaining source, WDJ204259.71+152108.06, is found to be a white dwarf and M-dwarf binary with an orbital period of 4.1 d and long-term stochastic optical variability, as well as luminous radio and X-ray emission. For this binary, we find no direct evidence of a background contaminant, and a chance alignment probability of only ≈2 per cent. However, other evidence points to the possibility of an unfortunate chance alignment with a background radio and X-ray emitting quasar, including an unusually poor Gaia DR3 astrometric solution for this source. With at most one possible radio emitting white dwarf found, we conclude that strong (≳1–3 mJy) radio emission from white dwarfs in the 3 GHz band is virtually non-existent outside of interacting binaries.

Aims. Stellar flares serve as crucial indicators stellar magnetic activity. Radio emissions were detectable across all stages of stellar evolution. We define radio stars in our paper as stars with radio continuum emission in the frequency region of about 1.4–375 GHz from the catalog published by Wendker (1995, A&AS, 109, 177; 2015, VizieR Online Data Catalog, VIII/99). We also include detected radio stars from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), and VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) surveys, and present comparative discussions. We used the light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) survey coupled with low- and medium-resolution spectra from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey to investigate the magnetic activity and statistical properties of radio stars. Methods. We cross-matched the radio stars from the radio star catalog and the LoTSS, ASKAP, and VLASS surveys with the TESS survey. For the stars from the radio star catalog, we obtained a matched sample of 1537 stars (hereafter Sample 1) and downloaded their TESS light curves, which include 4001 light curves at a 120s cadence. For the stars from the LoTSS, ASKAP, and VLASS surveys, we obtain a matched sample of 98 stars (hereafter Sample 2) and downloaded their 120s TESS light curves, totaling 260. Subsequently, we employed repeated fitting techniques to distinguish stellar background light curves from flare events. For Sample 1, we successfully identify 12 155 flare events occurring on 856 stars. For Sample 2, we identify a total of 3992 flare events on 86 stars. Furthermore, by cross-referencing our samples with the Gaia survey, the TESS Input Catalog, and the LAMOST survey, we obtain additional stellar parameters, facilitating the determination of relationships between stellar and flare parameters. Results. For stars in Sample 1, within the 12 155 flare events observed on the 856 flare-active radio stars, a majority of more than 97% have durations of less than 2 h, while for stars in Sample 2, all 3992 flare events have a duration of less than 2 hours. We calculated the flare occurrence percentage for each flare-active radio star, observing a decrease as effective temperature increased for both Sample 1 and Sample 2. We derived values of the power-law index (for Sample 1, the α value is approximately 1.50 ± 0.11 for single stars and 1.38 ± 0.09 for binary stars, for Sample 2, the α value is about 1.47 ± 0.11 for single stars and 1.42 ± 0.09 for binary stars) for the cumulative flare frequency distribution. In both Sample 1 and Sample 2, stars with lower effective temperatures tend to exhibit increased activity. Using LAMOST spectra and the Gaia DR3 chromospheric activity index, we note that the Hα equivalent width and Gaia Ca II IRT activity index of flare-active radio stars is significantly larger than that of nonflaring stars. An intriguing finding is our potential identification of a coronal rain candidate through asymmetry observed in the Hα line.

We present a population of 19 radio-luminous supernovae (SNe) with emission reaching L ν ∼ 1026–1029 erg s−1 Hz−1 in the first epoch of the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) at 2–4 GHz. Our sample includes one long gamma-ray burst, SN 2017iuk/GRB 171205A, and 18 core-collapse SNe detected at ≈1–60 yr after explosion. No thermonuclear explosion shows evidence for bright radio emission, and hydrogen-poor progenitors dominate the subsample of core-collapse events with spectroscopic classification at the time of explosion (79%). We interpret these findings in the context of the expected radio emission from the forward shock interaction with the circumstellar medium (CSM). We conclude that these observations require a departure from the single wind–like density profile (i.e., ρ CSM ∝ r −2) that is expected around massive stars and/or from a spherical Newtonian shock. Viable alternatives include the shock interaction with a detached, dense shell of CSM formed by a large effective progenitor mass-loss rate, M ̇ ∼ 10 − 4 – 10 − 1 M ⊙ yr−1 (for an assumed wind velocity of 1000 km s−1); emission from an off-axis relativistic jet entering our line of sight; or the emergence of emission from a newly born pulsar-wind nebula. The relativistic SN 2012ap that is detected 5.7 and 8.5 yr after explosion with L ν ∼ 1028 erg s−1 Hz−1 might constitute the first detections of an off-axis jet+cocoon system in a massive star. However, none of the VLASS SNe with archival data points are consistent with our model off-axis jet light curves. Future multiwavelength observations will distinguish among these scenarios. Our VLASS source catalogs, which were used to perform the VLASS cross-matching, are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4895112.

In this work, we revisit the relationship between [O iii] line width w90 (as the indicator of active galactic nucleus outflow velocity) and the radio emission in radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) by employing a large sample of Type I quasars (∼37 000) selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 16. By median stacking the radio images (to include the dominant fraction of individually radio non-detected RQQs) of Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array Sky Survey for subsamples of RQQs with different w90, our study demonstrates that the correlation between w90 and radio emission in our SDSS RQQs is significant, and remains solid after controlling the effects of black hole mass, quasar luminosity, Eddington ratio, and redshift. This intrinsic link supports that the [O iii] outflows in quasars, most likely resulting from wide-angled sub-relativistic quasar winds launched from the accretion disc, could make a dominant contribution to radio emission in the general RQQs. Alternatively, the correlation may be attributed to low-power jets in RQQs if they are ubiquitous and could efficiently enhance the [O iii] width through interacting with the interstellar medium. Meanwhile, the star formation rates traced by the flux ratio of [Ne v]/[O ii] emission lines display no dependence on w90 after controlling the effects of black hole mass, quasar luminosity, Eddington ratio, and redshift. This suggests that the stronger radio emission in RQQs with larger w90 could not be attributed to outflow-enhanced (positive feedback) star formation in the hosts. However, this also indicates that the outflows, though exhibiting robust correlation with radio power, produce neither positive nor negative feedback to the star formation in their hosts.

To investigate the radio properties of the recently found high-redshift population, we collected a sample of 919 little red dots (LRDs) from the literature. By cross-matching their co-ordinates with the radio catalogues based on the first- and second-epoch observations of the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters (FIRST) survey, we found no radio counterparts coinciding with any of the LRDs. To uncover possible sub-milli-Jansky-level weak radio emission, we performed mean and median image stacking analyses of empty-field ‘quick look’ VLASS and FIRST image cutouts centred on the LRD positions. We found no radio emission above 3σ noise levels (∼11 and ∼18 μJy beam−1 for the VLASS and FIRST maps, respectively) in either of the stacked images for the LRD sample, while the noise levels of the single-epoch images are comparable to those found earlier in the stacking of high-redshift radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The non-detection of radio emission in LRDs suggests that these sources host weaker (or no) radio AGNs.

Context. QS Vir is a low-accretion rate cataclysmic variable (CV), or pre-CV, as the M dwarf companion is just filling its Roche lobe. We recently identified radio emission from QS Vir in the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS), at a flux of ∼1 mJy. The origin of radio emission from CVs is not fully understood, with evidence for synchrotron emission from jets and other coherent plasma emission processes, such as electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) or plasma radiation. Aims. Our aim is to constrain the radio emission mechanism for QS Vir, through spectroscopic, polarisation, and time variability measurements, all while checking for correlated X-ray variations. Methods. We took three epochs of new observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in S-, C-, and X-bands, with full Stokes polarisation information, complemented by near-simultaneous Swift/XRT X-ray data. Radio spectra were extracted to search for emission features characteristic of coherent plasma emission processes (e.g. high circular polarisation and narrow-band emission). We fit the X-ray spectra with absorbed power laws, finding no strong X-ray variability. Results. QS Vir showed a nearly flat radio spectrum, with fluxes of 0.4−0.6 mJy in all bands. Swift/XRT showed LX ∼ 5 × 1029 erg/s in all observations. We identified strong, variable circular polarisation, ranging from 33 ± 3% in S-band in the last observation, to < 11% in the middle observation in all bands. Linear polarisation was not detected, with upper limits of at most 15%. Intriguingly, the S-band spectra show circularly polarised spectral bumps (width ∼0.5 GHz) that rise and decay within ≲5 minutes. Conclusions. We suggest that the radio emission from QS Vir consists of two components: a relatively constant, low-polarisation flat-spectrum component and a band-limited, rapidly variable, and strongly circularly polarised component. This latter coherent component may be associated with ECME or plasma radiation.

Several studies have been carried out to detect radio emissions from known exoplanets. Some of these studies have resulted in tentative detections of radio sources near the position of known exoplanets. One such planet/brown dwarf around which a radio source was detected is 1RXS1609.1−210524 (hereafter 1RX) b. A radio source near 1RX was detected with the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS) at 150 MHz and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) at 1.4 GHz. However, since these surveys’ spatial resolution was low, it was not possible to ascertain whether the radio emission originated from the system or a background source. This work presents results from the 1RX field’s targeted observations at 150, 325, and 610 MHz with Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT). These observations have a higher angular resolution as compared to TGSS and NVSS. I detected the radio source near the position of 1RX at all frequencies with GMRT. I further used the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) data at 3 GHz to determine the flux density and position at high frequency. With the targeted GMRT observations and observations from VLASS, I show that the radio emission does not originate from the 1RX b but is from a background source about ∼13 arcsec away from the host star. Further, no radio emission was detected from the position of 1RX.

In this work, we have carried out a systematic analysis of the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) quick look catalogs together with Gaia DR3 to identify the optical counterparts of 3 GHz radio emitters within 500 pc to obtain a homogeneous statistical sample of stellar radio sources. We have identified distinct populations of 3 GHz emitters across the Gaia DR3 color–magnitude diagram. We also present candidate sources (transient, highly variable, or background artifacts) that can be confirmed by follow-up observations. A majority of the detected sources constitute main-sequence G-, K-, and M-type stars, including ultracool dwarfs. Pinning down the origin of radio emission from these populations can help us gain further insights into the origin of stellar and planetary magnetic fields. By analyzing the variation of brightness temperature of the sources with their spectral type, we have tentatively associated possible emission mechanisms with different object types. We inspected the correlation between quiescent radio and X-ray emission for our sample, which can provide crucial insights into the current understanding of the Gudel–Benz relationship, which is essential for modeling steady radio emission and coronal heating. This VLASS-Gaia DR3 analysis acts as a pilot study for follow-up observations at multiple wavelengths to better understand stellar structure, model flaring activities, and detect radio emission caused by star–planet interactions.

Blazars are radio-loud active galactic nuclei whose jets have a very small angle to our line of sight. Observationally, the radio emissions are mostly compact or compact-core with a one-sided jet. With 2.″5 resolution at 3 GHz, the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) enables us to resolve the structure of some blazar candidates in the sky north of decl. −40°. We introduce an algorithm to classify radio sources as either blazar-like or non-blazar-like based on their morphology in the VLASS images. We apply our algorithm to three existing catalogs, including one of the known blazars (Roma-BzCAT) and two blazar candidates identified by Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer colors and radio emission (WIBRaLS, KDEBLLACS). We show that in all three catalogs, there are objects with morphologies inconsistent with being blazars. Considering all the catalogs, more than 12% of the candidates are unlikely to be blazars, based on this analysis. Notably, we show that 3% of the Roma-BzCAT confirmed blazars could be a misclassification based on their VLASS morphology. The resulting table with all sources and their radio morphological classification is available online.

We present a systematic search for radio active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in dwarf galaxies using recent observations taken by the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). To select these objects, we first establish a criterion to identify radio-excess AGNs using the infrared-radio correlation parameter, q, that describes the tight relation between radio and IR emission in star-forming galaxies. We find a 2σ threshold of q < 1.94 to select radio-excess AGNs, which is derived from a sample of ∼7000 galaxies across the full mass range in the NASA-Sloan Atlas that have radio and IR detections from VLASS and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, respectively. We create catalogs of radio-excess AGNs and star-forming galaxies and make these available to the community. Applying our criterion to dwarf galaxies with stellar masses M ⋆ ≲ 3 × 109 M ⊙ and redshifts z ≤ 0.15, and carefully removing interlopers, we find 10 radio-excess AGNs with radio-optical positional offsets between ∼0″ and 2.′3 (0–2.7 kpc). Based on statistical arguments and emission line diagnostics, we expect the majority of these radio-excess AGNs to be associated with the dwarf host galaxies rather than background AGNs. Five of the objects have evidence for hosting AGNs at other wavelengths, and five objects are identified as AGNs in dwarf galaxies for the first time. We also identify eight variable radio sources in dwarf galaxies by comparing the VLASS epoch 1 and epoch 2 observations to Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters detections presented in A. E. Reines et al. (2020).

We present the discovery of a sample of 18 low-redshift (z < 0.3) galaxies with transient nuclear radio emission. These galaxies are not detected or are weakly detected in the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty cm survey, performed from 1993–2009, but have brightened significantly in radio flux (by a factor of ≳5) in the epoch I (2017–2019) observations of the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). All 18 galaxies have been detected in VLASS epoch II observations, from 2020–2021, from which the radio flux has been found to evolve slowly (with variability amplitudes of ≳40%) over a period of about 3 yr. 15 galaxies have been observed in the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey, and a flat or inverted spectral slope between 888 MHz and 3 GHz is found. Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra taken before the radio brightening, 14 of the 18 galaxies can be classified as LINERs or normal galaxies with weak or no nuclear activity. Most galaxies are red and massive, with more than half having central black hole masses above 108M⊙. We find that only one galaxy in our sample displays an optical flare lasting for at least two months, with a long decay in the infrared light curve that can be explained as the dust-heated echo emission of a central optical flare, such as a stellar tidal disruption event. We discuss several possibilities for the transient radio emission and conclude that it is likely associated with a newborn radio jet triggered by short sporadic fueling of a supermassive black hole. Such a scenario can be tested with further multifrequency radio observations of these sources, via measuring their radio flux variability and spectral evolution.

The Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) is observing the entire sky north of −40° in the S band (2 GHz &lt; ν &lt; 4 GHz), with the highest angular resolution (2.″5) of any all-sky radio continuum survey to date. VLASS will cover its entire footprint over three distinct epochs, the first of which has now been observed in full. Based on Quick Look images from this first epoch, we have created a catalog of 1.9 × 106 reliably detected radio components. Due to the limitations of the Quick Look images, component flux densities are underestimated by ∼15% at S peak &gt; 3 mJy beam−1 and are often unreliable for fainter components. We use this catalog to perform statistical analyses of the ν ∼ 3 GHz radio sky. Comparisons with the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST) survey show the typical 1.4–3 GHz spectral index, α, to be ∼−0.71. The radio color–color distribution of point and extended components is explored by matching with FIRST and the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey. We present the VLASS source counts, dN/dS, which are found to be consistent with previous observations at 1.4 and 3 GHz. Resolution improvements over FIRST result in excess power in the VLASS two-point correlation function at angular scales ≲7″, and in 18% of active galactic nuclei associated with a single FIRST component being split into multicomponent sources by VLASS.

SDSS J1539+3954 ( z ≈ 1.935), a radio-quiet weak-line quasar (WLQ), exhibited exceptional X-ray variability in 2019–2020, with its X-ray flux increasing by over 20 times from 2013 to 2019 and subsequently dropping by at least a factor of 9 in 2020. Motivated by the empirical correlations between X-ray and radio emission in the cores of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we carried out a follow-up radio study in the 0.3–10 GHz range using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT; 2020, 2022, 2024) and Very Large Array (VLA; 2022), and analyzed archival Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) 3 GHz data (2017–2023) to investigate the source’s radio properties and potential connection with the X-ray behavior. Our observations reveal a compact radio source with a spectral index of −0.65 ± 0.15 in the frequency range 0.3–1.4 GHz and −1.09 ± 0.16 in 3–10 GHz. While the source was undetected in VLA-FIRST (1994) and VLASS epochs, the GMRT and VLA observations show no statistically significant variability over the monitored period. The absence of detectable changes in the radio flux, despite strong X-ray variability, suggests no direct connection between the X-ray variability and the radio emission, consistent with the thick-disk-plus-outflow (TDO) model for WLQs. However, the sensitivity limit of the surveys prevents us from drawing definitive conclusions regarding variability on longer timescales between the VLA-FIRST and GMRT epochs. We further explore possible mechanisms driving the radio emission from this source. Our analysis rules out small-scale jets and coronal emission as the primary drivers of the radio emission, suggesting that extended emission from AGN winds and star formation is the more plausible mechanism.

In this work, 1272 superflares on 311 stars are collected from 22,539 solar-type stars from the second-year observation of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which almost covered the northern hemisphere of the sky. Three superflare stars contain hot Jupiter candidates or ultrashort-period planet candidates. We obtain γ = −1.76 ± 0.11 of the correlation between flare frequency and flare energy ( ) for all superflares and get β = 0.42 ± 0.01 of the correlation between superflare duration and energy (T duration ∝ E β ), which supports that a similar mechanism is shared by stellar superflares and solar flares. Stellar photometric variability (R var) is estimated for all solar-type stars, and the relation of is included. An indicator of chromospheric activity (S-index) is obtained by using data from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) for 7454 solar-type stars. Distributions of these two properties indicate that the Sun is generally less active than superflare stars. We find that saturation-like feature of R var ∼ 0.1 may be the reason for superflare energy saturating around 1036 erg. Object TIC 93277807 was captured by the TESS first-year mission and generated the most energetic superflare. This superflare is valuable and unique in that it can be treated as an extreme event, which may be generated by different mechanisms than other superflares.

The Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) is a synoptic, all-sky radio sky survey with a unique combination of high angular resolution (≈2.″5), sensitivity (a 1σ goal of 70 μJy/beam in the coadded data), full linear Stokes polarimetry, time domain coverage, and wide bandwidth (2–4 GHz). The first observations began in 2017 September, and observing for the survey will finish in 2024. VLASS will use approximately 5500 hr of time on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to cover the whole sky visible to the VLA (decl. > −40°), a total of 33 885 deg. The data will be taken in three epochs to allow the discovery of variable and transient radio sources. The survey is designed to engage radio astronomy experts, multi-wavelength astronomers, and citizen scientists alike. By utilizing an “on the fly” interferometry mode, the observing overheads are much reduced compared to a conventional pointed survey. In this paper, we present the science case and observational strategy for the survey, and also results from early survey observations.