Superflare Stars Research Articles

Recurrent Nova V2487 Oph Had Superflares in 1941 and 1942 with Radiant Energies of 1042.5±1.6 erg

V2487 Ophiuchi (V2487 Oph) is a recurrent nova with classical nova eruptions in 1900 and 1998, and it is also the most extreme known superflare star. These superflares are roughly hour-long flares with amplitudes and optical energies reaching up to 1.10 mag and 1039.21 erg, respectively, with the superflares recurring once a day. The V2487 Oph superflares are certainly operating with the same mechanism as all the other types of superflare stars, where magnetic loops are twisted and stretched until reconnection occurs, whereupon ambient electrons are accelerated to relativistic energies and then emit bremsstrahlung radiation from X-ray to radio. V2487 Oph is unique among known superflare stars in that one of the loop footprints is in an accretion disk. This exact mechanism was theoretically predicted by M. R. Hayashi and colleagues in 1996. Now, I have found two superflares recorded on Harvard archival photographs from 1941 and 1942. These two superflares have B-magnitude amplitudes of >1.83 and >2.00 mag and total radiated energies of 1042.4 and 1042.5 erg, respectively, with bolometric corrections. Each has emitted energies of ∼30 billion Carringtons, in units of the most energetic solar flare. Further, I find superflares in Zwicky Transient Factory light curves, so V2487 Oph has been superflaring from 1941 to 2023. For the observed number distribution of dN/dE = 4E −2 superflares per year, for E in units of 1041 erg, the emitted energy in superflare light is 1042.1 erg in each year, or 1044.1 erg from 1941 to 2023.

Starspots, chromospheric emission lines, and flares of zero-age main-sequence stars

Abstract Zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) stars are considered to have enormous starspots and show strong chromospheric emission lines because of their strong surface magnetic field. We discuss the dynamo activities of ZAMS stars with respect to their periodic light variation caused by a starspot and with respect to the strength of the chromospheric emission lines. The light curves of 33 ZAMS stars in IC 2391 and IC 2602 were obtained from TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) photometric data. The light curves can be grouped into the following four categories: single frequency, possible shape changer, beater, and complex variability. The amplitudes of the light curves are 0.001–0.145 mag, similar to those of ZAMS stars in Pleiades. The starspot coverages are $0.1\%$–$21\%$. We found that the light variations and Ca ii emission line strength of ZAMS stars in IC 2391, IC 2602, and the Pleiades cluster are as large as those of the most active superflare stars and two orders larger than those of the Sun, and are located on the extensions of the superflare stars. These results suggest that superflare stars link the properties of the Sun to those of the ZAMS stars of ages between 30 and 120 Myr. ZAMS stars with a single frequency or possible shape change in the light curve tend to have both large light variation, indicating large spot coverage, and saturated Ca ii emission line strength. ZAMS stars with beat or complex variability have small spot coverage and a faint Ca ii emission line. We also detected 21 flares in the TESS light curves of 12 ZAMS stars in IC 2391 and IC 2602, where most of these stars have saturated chromospheric Ca ii emission lines. The energies of the flares are estimated to be ∼1033–1035 erg, which is comparable with the energy of a superflare.

Discovery of extreme, roughly daily superflares on the recurrent nova V2487 Oph

ABSTRACTV2487 Oph is a recurrent nova with detected eruptions in 1900 and 1998. Startlingly, V2487 Oph shows flares, called ‘Superflares’, with up to 1.10 mag amplitude, fast rises of under one-minute, always with an initial impulsive spike followed by a roughly exponential tail, typically one-hour durations, and with random event times averaging once-per-day. The typical flare energy E is over 1038 erg, while the yearly energy budget is 1041 erg. V2487 Oph Superflares obey three relations; the number distribution of flare energies scales as E−2.34 ± 0.35, the waiting time from one flare to the next is proportional to E of the first event, and flare durations scale as E0.44 ± 0.03. Scenarios involving gravitational energy and nuclear energy fail to satisfy the three relations. The magnetic energy scenario, however, can explain all three relations. This scenario has magnetic field lines above the disc being twisted and amplified by the motions of their footprints, with magnetic reconnection releasing energy that comes out as Superflare light. This exact mechanism is already well known to occur in white light solar flares, in ordinary M-type flare stars, and in the many Superflare stars observed all across the H-R diagram. Superflares on Superflare stars have rise times, light-curve shapes, and durations that are very similar to those on V2487 Oph. So we conclude that the V2487 Oph Superflares are caused by large-scale magnetic reconnection. V2487 Oph is now the most extreme Superflare star, exhibiting the largest known flare energy (1.6 × 1039 erg) and the fastest occurrence rate.

Superflares, Chromospheric Activities, and Photometric Variabilities of Solar-type Stars from the Second-year Observation of TESS and Spectra of LAMOST

Abstract 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.

What are the chances of a hazardous solar superflare?

On March 1, 2010, the Kepler space telescope spotted a distant star brighten slightly. Compared with the ferocious intensity of a supernova or gamma-ray burst, this event was feeble. It was merely a stellar flare, and by no means the most powerful flare ever seen. Nevertheless, it was ominous. Fig. 1. One of the largest flares ever seen on the Sun—captured here in extreme ultraviolet light by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory—erupted in November 2003. Classed as an X28 flare, it had greater energy than any other flare seen in the space exploration era but still falls far short of a superflare. Image credit: SOHO/EIT (ESA and NASA). The star, known as KIC9944137, lies more than 1800 light-years away between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. It closely resembles our Sun: about the same size, about the same temperature, about the same rotation rate. Yet the flare was at least 10 times as powerful as anything recorded on the Sun. Kepler has detected many more such superflares on sunlike stars. In May this year, a team of astronomers led by Yuta Notsu of Kyoto University in Japan published a study confirming that many of these stars share our Sun’s composition and other properties (1). This raises the prospect of superflares on the Sun, perhaps one every few centuries. Such events could have serious consequences for society. But other evidence for these events is strangely lacking. They should deposit much more radioactive material on Earth and the Moon than researchers have found thus far. Either our Sun is subtly different from these superflare stars, or a superflare is possible in the foreseeable future. Flares happen because of convulsions in the Sun’s magnetic field. The field stretches out through the solar atmosphere and into deep space. Electromagnetic forces fuse the field to the electrically …

Do Kepler Superflare Stars Really Include Slowly Rotating Sun-like Stars?—Results Using APO 3.5 m Telescope Spectroscopic Observations and Gaia-DR2 Data

Abstract We report the latest view of Kepler solar-type (G-type main-sequence) superflare stars, including recent updates with Apache Point Observatory (APO) 3.5 m telescope spectroscopic observations and Gaia-DR2 data. First, we newly conducted APO 3.5 m spectroscopic observations of 18 superflare stars found from Kepler 1-minute time-cadence data. More than half (43 stars) are confirmed to be “single” stars, among 64 superflare stars in total that have been spectroscopically investigated so far in this APO 3.5 m and our previous Subaru/HDS observations. The measurements of v sin i (projected rotational velocity) and chromospheric lines (Ca ii H and K and Ca ii λ8542) support that the brightness variation of superflare stars is caused by the rotation of a star with large starspots. We then investigated the statistical properties of Kepler solar-type superflare stars by incorporating Gaia-DR2 stellar radius estimates. As a result, the maximum superflare energy continuously decreases as the rotation period P rot increases. Superflares with energies ≲5 × 1034 erg occur on old, slowly rotating Sun-like stars (P rot ∼ 25 days) approximately once every 2000–3000 yr, while young, rapidly rotating stars with P rot ∼ a few days have superflares up to 1036 erg. The maximum starspot area does not depend on the rotation period when the star is young, but as the rotation slows down, it starts to steeply decrease at P rot ≳ 12 days for Sun-like stars. These two decreasing trends are consistent since the magnetic energy stored around starspots explains the flare energy, but other factors like spot magnetic structure should also be considered.

Properties of Kepler Stars with the Most Powerful Flares

We analyze physical characteristics of late-type stars wherein the Kepler mission registered superflares. We use the revised stellar fundamental parameters, i.e. effective temperatures Teff and surface gravitational accelerations log g, from the Kepler archive published in 2017, as compared to previous studies by Balona (2015) based on the release of 2011. Among superflare stars there are both single objects and members of eclipsing binaries. We select the late-type stars (with Teff $< 6500$ K) wherein occured the most powerful flares with the total flare energy $> 10^{35}$ erg and consider their locations in the (Teff - log g) diagram. Both components of binaries and single stars appear to reside mostly in between the main sequence and the subgiant branches and therefore have larger radii compared to that of the Sun. Besides, as a rule these single stars are fast rotators and can be considered as young objects that it is difficult to attribute to "solar-type stars". Extremely high flare energy of these stars requires quite strong magnetic fields that cannot be generated even due to scaling of the solar dynamo. Apparently, for explanation of the strongest non-stationary phenomena on stars considered, it would be worthwhile to attract another regime of the dynamo mechanism that can be realized in these objects.

Can Flare Loops Contribute to the White-light Emission of Stellar Superflares?

Abstract Since the discovery of stellar superflares by the Kepler satellite, these extremely energetic events have been studied in analogy to solar flares. Their white-light (WL) continuum emission has been interpreted as being produced by heated ribbons. In this paper, we compute the WL emission from overlying flare loops depending on their density and temperature and show that, under conditions expected during superflares, the continuum brightening due to extended loop arcades can significantly contribute to stellar flux detected by Kepler. This requires electron densities in the loops of 1012−1013 cm−3 or higher. We show that such densities, exceeding those typically present in solar-flare loops, can be reached on M-dwarf and solar-type superflare stars with large starspots and much stronger magnetic fields. Quite importantly, the WL radiation of loops is not very sensitive to their temperature and thus both cool as well as hot loops may contribute. We show that the WL intensity emergent from optically thin loops is lower than the blackbody radiation from flare ribbons, but the contribution of loops to total stellar flux can be quite important due to their significant emitting areas. This new scenario for interpreting superflare emission suggests that the observed WL flux is due to a mixture of the ribbon and loop radiation and can be even loop-dominated during the gradual phase of superflares.

Starspot activity and superflares on solar-type stars

Abstract We analyze the correlation between starspots and superflares on solar-type stars using observations from the Kepler mission. The analysis shows that the observed fraction of stars with superflares decreases as the rotation period increases and as the amplitude of photometric variability associated with rotation decreases. We found that the fraction of stars with superflares among the stars showing large-amplitude rotational variations, which are thought to be the signature of the large starspots, also decreases as the rotation period increases. The small fraction of superflare stars among the stars with large starspots in the longer-period regime suggests that some of the stars with large starspots show a much lower flare activity than the superflare stars with the same spot area. Assuming simple relations between spot area and lifetime and between spot temperature and photospheric temperature, we compared the size distribution of large starspot groups on slowly rotating solar-type stars with that of sunspot groups. The size distribution of starspots shows the power-law distribution and the size distribution of larger sunspots lies on this power-law line. We also found that frequency–energy distributions for flares originating from spots with different sizes are the same for solar-type stars with superflares and the Sun. These results suggest that the magnetic activity we observe on solar-type stars with superflares and on the Sun is caused by the same physical processes.

Change in the activity character of the coronae of low-mass stars of various spectral types

We study the dependence of the coronal activity index on the star's rotation rate. This question was considered earlier for 824 late-type stars on the basis of a consolidated catalogue of the soft X-ray fluxes. We carry out a more refined analysis separately for G, K and M dwarfs. They distinctively exhibit two modes of activity. The first one is the saturation mode, it is characteristic of young stars and is practically not related to their rotation. The second one refers to the solar-type activity the level of which strongly depends on the rotation period. We show that the transition from one mode to another takes place at the rotation periods of 1.1, 3.3 and 7.2 days for the stars of spectral types G2, K4 and M3 respectively. In the light of the discovery of superflares on G and K stars on the Kepler spacecraft there arises a question of how these objects differ from other active late-type stars. We analyse the location of superflare stars relative to the stars observed by Kepler on the "amplitude of rotational brightness modulation (ARM) -- rotation period" diagram. The value of ARM reflects the relative spots area on a star and characterises the activity level in the whole atmosphere. It is shown that G and K superflare stars are basically fast rotating young objects, but some of them belong to the stars with the solar type of activity.

Spectroscopic observations of active solar-analog stars with high X-ray luminosity, as a proxy of superflare stars

Abstract Recent studies of solar-type superflare stars have suggested that even old slowly rotating stars similar to the Sun can have large starspots and superflares. We conducted high-dispersion spectroscopy of 49 nearby solar-analog stars (G-type main-sequence stars with Teff ≈ 5600–6000 K) identified as ROSAT soft X-ray sources, which are not binary stars from previous studies. We expected that these stars could be used as a proxy of bright solar-analog superflare stars, since superflare stars are expected to show strong X-ray luminosity. More than half (37) of the 49 target stars show no evidence of binarity, and their atmospheric parameters (temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity) are within the range of ordinary solar-analog stars. We measured the intensity of Ca ii 8542 and Hα lines, which are good indicators of the stellar chromospheric activity. The intensity of these lines indicates that all the target stars have large starspots. We also measured v sin i (projected rotational velocity) and lithium abundance for the target stars. Li abundance is a key to understanding the evolution of the stellar convection zone, which reflects the stellar age, mass and rotational history. We confirmed that many of the target stars rapidly rotate and have high Li abundance, compared with the Sun, as suggested by many previous studies. There are, however, also some target stars that rotate slowly (v sin i = 2–3 km s−1) and have low Li abundance like the Sun. These results support that old and slowly rotating stars similar to the Sun could have high activity levels and large starspots. This is consistent with the results of our previous studies of solar-type superflare stars. In the future, it is important to conduct long-term monitoring observations of these active solar-analog stars in order to investigate detailed properties of large starspots from the viewpoint of stellar dynamo theory.

Starspot Activity and Superflares on Solar-type Stars

AbstractRecent high-precision photometry from space (e.g., Kepler) enables us to investigate the nature of “superflares” on solar-type stars. The bolometric energy of superflares detected by Kepler ranges from 1033 erg to 1036 erg which is 10-10,000 times larger than that released by a typical X10 class solar flare. The occurrence frequency (dN/dE) of superflares as a function of flare energy (E) shows the power-law distribution with the power-law index of ~−1.8 for 1034 &lt; E &lt; 1036 erg. Most of superflare stars show quasi-periodic light variations which suggest the presence of large starspots. The bolometric energy released by flares is consistent with the magnetic energy stored near the starspots. The occurrence frequency of superflares increases as the rotation period decreases. However, the energy of the largest flares observed in a given period bin does not show any clear correlation with the rotation period. These results suggest that superflares would occur on the slowly-rotating stars.

Observational evidence for enhanced magnetic activity of superflare stars.

Superflares are large explosive events on stellar surfaces one to six orders-of-magnitude larger than the largest flares observed on the Sun throughout the space age. Due to the huge amount of energy released in these superflares, it has been speculated if the underlying mechanism is the same as for solar flares, which are caused by magnetic reconnection in the solar corona. Here, we analyse observations made with the LAMOST telescope of 5,648 solar-like stars, including 48 superflare stars. These observations show that superflare stars are generally characterized by larger chromospheric emissions than other stars, including the Sun. However, superflare stars with activity levels lower than, or comparable to, the Sun do exist, suggesting that solar flares and superflares most likely share the same origin. The very large ensemble of solar-like stars included in this study enables detailed and robust estimates of the relation between chromospheric activity and the occurrence of superflares.

{High dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars with Subaru/HDS

AbstractWe carried out spectroscopic observations with Subaru/HDS of 50 solar-type superflare stars found from Kepler data. More than half (34 stars) of the target stars show no evidence of the binary system, and we confirmed atmospheric parameters of these stars are roughly in the range of solar-type stars.We then conducted the detailed analyses for these 34 stars. First, the value of the “v sin i” (projected rotational velocity) measured from spectroscopic results is consistent with the rotational velocity estimated from the brightness variation. Second, there is a correlation between the amplitude of the brightness variation and the intensity of Ca II IR triplet line. All the targets expected to have large starspots because of their large amplitude of the brightness variation show high chromospheric activities compared with the Sun. These results support that the brightness variation of superflare stars is explained by the rotation of a star with large starspots.

Discovery of superflares

AbstractWe have discovered 1547 ‘superflares’ on about 279 G-type main-sequence stars by using the Kepler-spacecraft data of Q0-Q6. ‘Superflares’ mean flares that radiate total energy 10 times or more larger than that of the largest flare in the Sun ever recorded. We here briefly review our current understandings on superflares and superflare stars obtained by analyzing the Kepler data and follow-up high dispersion spectra.

High dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars. III. Lithium abundances

Abstract We report on the abundance analysis of Li in solar-type (G-type main sequence) superflare stars which were found by the analysis of Kepler photometric data. Li is a key element to understand the evolution of the stellar convection zone, which reflects the age of solar-type stars. We performed the high-dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars with Subaru/High Dispersion Spectrograph and confirmed that 34 stars show no evidence of binarity in our previous study. In this study, we derived the Li abundances of these 34 objects. We investigate correlations of Li abundance with stellar atmospheric parameters, rotational velocity, and superflare activities to understand the nature of superflare stars and the possibility of the nucleosynthesis of Li by superflares. We confirm the large dispersion in the Li abundance, and the correlation with stellar parameters is not seen. When compared with the Li abundance in the Hyades cluster, which is younger than the Sun, it is suggested that half of the observed stars are younger than Hyades cluster. The measured value of v sin i (projected rotational velocity) supports that those objects are younger than the Sun. However, there are some objects which show the low Li abundance and slowly rotate on the basis of the estimated v sin i and P (period of brightness variation). This result indicates that superflare stars are not only young stars but also old stars like our Sun. In our observations, we could not find any evidence of Li production by superflares. Further research on Li isotope abundances of superflare stars would clarify the issue of Li production by stellar flares.

Activity and cold spots on the surface of G-type superflare stars

Based on the high precision photometric observations of the Kepler space telescope, we have investigated the properties of the active regions (cold spots) on the surface of 279 stars of the spectral class G, for which 1547 superflares with energies in the range of 1033–1036 erg have been revealed. The main conclusion of our study is the quantitative estimation of the increased surface spottedness of superflare stars, which indicates enhancedmagnetic activity of these objects. The increased spottedness on the surfaces of the studied stars was confirmed based on two independent estimations of stellar brightness variations. In addition, it was concluded that superflare stars do not stand out in the common dataset of differential rotation parameters. Based on the data considered, no correlation was found of the spottedness parameters or the differential rotation parameters with the characteristics of these objects—their Rossby numbers and superflare energy. Additionally, the correlation between the superflare energy and the inverse Rossby number was considered. None of these comparisons gave an indication for the presence of any obvious correlation. The results of the analysis of five stars with a few dozen flares registered indicate that for the same star whereas spottedness S variations are small, significant changes in the superflare energy can be achieved. On the example of KIC 10422252, we show that at sixfold S variations, the flare energy varies by orders of magnitude at any given S value.

High dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars. II. Stellar rotation, starspots, and chromospheric activities

Abstract We conducted high dispersion spectroscopic observations of 50 superflare stars with Subaru/HDS. These 50 stars were selected from the solar-type superflare stars that we had discovered from the Kepler data. More than half (34 stars) of these 50 target superflare stars show no evidence of binarity, and we estimated stellar parameters of these 34 stars in our previous study (Notsu et al. 2015, PASJ, 67, 32). According to our previous studies using Kepler data, superflare stars show quasi-periodic brightness variations whose amplitude (0.1%–10%) is much larger than that of the solar brightness variations (0.01%–0.1%) caused by the existence of sunspots on the rotating solar surface. In this study, we investigated whether these quasi-periodic brightness variations of superflare stars are explained by the rotation of a star with fairly large starspots, by using stellar parameters derived in Paper I. First, we confirmed that the value of the projected rotational velocity, v sin i, is consistent with the rotational velocity estimated from the period of the brightness variation. Next, we measured the intensity of Ca ii infrared triplet lines and Hα line, good indicators of the stellar chromospheric activity, and compared them with other stellar properties. The intensity of Ca ii infrared triplet lines indicates that the mean magnetic field strength (〈fB〉) of the target superflare stars can be higher than that of the Sun. A correlation between the amplitude of the brightness variation and the intensity of Ca ii triplet line was found. All the targets expected to have large starspots because of their large amplitude of the brightness variation show high chromospheric activities compared to the Sun. These results support the idea that the brightness variation of superflare stars is due to the rotation with large starspots.

High dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars. I. Temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and vsin i

Abstract We conducted high-dispersion spectroscopic observations of 50 superflare stars with Subaru High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS), and measured the stellar parameters of them. These 50 targets were selected from the solar-type (G-type main sequence) superflare stars that we had discovered from the Kepler photometric data. As a result of these spectroscopic observations, we found that more than half (34) of our 50 targets have no evidence of binary systems. We then estimated the effective temperature (Teff), surface gravity (log g), metallicity ([Fe/H]), and projected rotational velocity (vsin i) of these 34 superflare stars on the basis of our spectroscopic data. The accuracy of our estimations is higher than that of the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) values, and the differences between our values and KIC values [(ΔTeff)rms ∼ 219 K, (Δlog g)rms ∼ 0.37 dex, and (Δ[Fe/H])rms ∼ 0.46 dex] are comparable to the large uncertainties and systematic differences of KIC values reported by the previous researchers. We confirmed that the estimated Teff and log g values of the 34 superflare stars are roughly in the range of solar-type stars. In particular, these parameters and the brightness variation period (P0) of nine of the stars are in the range of “Sun-like” stars (5600 ≤ Teff ≤ 6000 K, log g ≥ 4.0, and P0 &amp;gt; 10 d). Five of the 34 target stars are fast rotators (vsin i ≥ 10 km s−1), while 22 stars have relatively low vsin i values (vsin i &amp;lt; 5 km s−1). These results suggest that stars that have spectroscopic properties similar to the Sun can have superflares, and this supports the hypothesis that the Sun might cause a superflare.

Keplersuper-flare stars: what are they?

The Kepler mission has led to the serendipitous discovery of a significant number of `super flares' - white light flares with energies between 10^33 erg and 10^36 erg - on solar-type stars. It has been speculated that these could be `freak' events that might happen on the Sun, too. We have started a programme to study the nature of the stars on which these super flares have been observed. Here we present high-resolution spectroscopy of 11 of these stars and discuss our results. We find that several of these stars are very young, fast-rotating stars where high levels of stellar activity can be expected, but for some other stars we do not find a straightforward explanation for the occurrence of super flares.