Energy Dissipation Mechanisms in Flare Stars

Abstract

Flare stars derive their name from intermittent increases in luminosity which have certain characteristics reminiscent of solar flares (e.g. enhanced strengths of emission lines in the stellar spectrum during the outbursts). When a flare star is observed in a filter which transmits, say, the violet part of the visible spectrum, the increase in luminosity during a flare may range from noise level up to perhaps 100 times the quiescent brightness. During a flare, certain spectral features of the quiescent star (e.g. molecular bands) remain visible, indicating that the flare occupies only a fraction of the visible disk. Thus, analagous to a solar flare, a stellar flare is confined to a single active region. However the total power is large enough to affect the integrated light from the stellar disk. In contrast, the largest solar flare (Etot ≈ 1032 ergs) has a rate of energy release (L ≈ 1029 erg/sec) which is so small that a distant observer would record such a flare as a luminosity increase of less than 10−4Lsun. However, even apart from the flares themselves, it has become apparent in recent years that flare stars in their “quiescent state” provide some extreme contrasts with the sun.