A Catalog of M-dwarf Flares with ASAS-SN

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 892; no. 2; pp. 144 - 155
• Main Authors: Rodríguez Martínez, Romy, Lopez, Laura A., Shappee, Benjamin J., Schmidt, Sarah J., Jayasinghe, Tharindu, Kochanek, Christopher S., Auchettl, Katie, Holoien, Thomas W.-S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia The American Astronomical Society 01-04-2020; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Algorithms; Astrophysics; Emission; H alpha line; Light curve; Low mass stars; Red dwarf flare stars; Red dwarf stars; Sky surveys (astronomy); Stars; Stellar activity; Stellar flares; Stellar rotation; Supernovae; White light
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab793a

We analyzed the light curves of 1376 early-to-late, nearby M dwarfs to search for white-light flares using photometry from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae. We identified 480 M dwarfs with at least one potential flare employing a simple statistical algorithm that searches for sudden increases in V-band flux. After more detailed evaluation, we identified 62 individual flares on 62 stars. The event amplitudes range from mag. Using classical flare models, we place lower limits on the flare energies and obtain V-band energies spanning erg. The fraction of flaring stars increases with spectral type, and most flaring stars show moderate to strong H emission. Additionally, we find that 14 of the 62 flaring stars are rotational variables, and they have shorter rotation periods and stronger H emission than nonflaring rotational variable M dwarfs.