Abstract

Poster - Splinter General   (H 0104 / virtual plenum)

Localizing a giant flare on a young scallop-shell star

Cinta Vidante [1,2], Ekaterina Ilin [1], Katja Poppenhäger [1,2]
[1] Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) [2] Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam

M dwarfs are prime targets for transiting exoplanet surveys. Young M dwarfs, in particular, carry cues about the conditions under which they formed. Scallop-shell stars are rapidly rotating M dwarfs in young open cluster and star-forming regions with unexplained complex and strictly periodic photometric modulations. Some of these stars are reported to have changes in their modulation patterns after a strong flare, which indicates an interaction with the structures that cause the modulation. Here we present our preliminary result of our study of TIC 206544316, a scallop-shell star observed with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite that displayed a long-duration giant flare which was modulated in brightness by the star's fast rotation. We find that the flare appears unobscured by the material, yet afterwards, the modulation pattern changes. This means that the flare does not sit directly behind the material, which may indicate a magnetic interaction with ionized particles from the flare, or perhaps evaporation driven interaction by the high energy (XUV) radiation. Measuring the location of strong, modulation-altering flares in scallop-shell stars indicates where energetic particles are ejected from these stars, presenting a unique way of investigating the nature of their structured dips.