Kepler Flares IV: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Activity of the dM4e Star GJ 1243

Abstract

We present a comprehensive study of the active dM4e star GJ 1243. We use previous observations and ground-based echelle spectroscopy to determine that GJ 1243 is a member of the Argus association of field stars, suggesting it is $\sim 30-50$ Myr old. We analyze eleven months of 1-minute cadence data from Kepler, presenting Kepler flare frequency distributions, as well as determining correlations between flare energy, amplitude, duration, and decay time. We find that the exponent $\alpha$ of the power-law flare energy distribution varies in time, primarily due to completeness of sample and the low frequency of high-energy flares. We also find a deviation from a single power law at high energy. We use ground-based spectroscopic observations simultaneous with the Kepler data to provide simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic analysis of three low-energy flares, the lowest-energy dMe flares with detailed spectral analysis to date on any star. The spectroscopic data from these flares extend constraints for radiative hydrodynamic (RHD) flare models to a lower energy regime than has previously been studied. We use this simultaneous spectroscopy and Kepler photometry to develop approximate conversions from the \textit{Kepler} bandpass to the traditional $U$ and $B$ bands. This conversion will be a critical factor in comparing any Kepler flare analyses to the canon of previous ground-based flare studies.

13 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (5)

• Kepler Flares I. Active and Inactive M dwarfs
• Kepler Flares II: The Temporal Morphology of White-Light Flares on GJ 1243
• Statistical properties of superflares on solar-type stars based on 1-min cadence data
• The Luminosity and Mass Functions of Low-Mass Stars in the Galactic Disk: I. The Calibration Region
• Kepler Flares III: Stellar Activity on GJ 1245 A and B

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• Spectral Evidence for Heating at Large Column Mass in Umbral Solar Flare Kernels I: IRIS NUV Spectra of the X1 Solar Flare of 2014 Oct 25
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• The Rise of ROME. I. A Multiwavelength Analysis of the Star-Planet Interaction in the HD 189733 System
• Starspots Modelling and Flare Analysis on Selected MV Stars
• The Palomar Transient Factory Sky2Night programme
• Longitudinally Modulated Dynamo Action in Simulated M-Dwarf Stars
• Frequent flare events on the short-period M-type eclipsing binary BX Tri
• Detection of Optical Flares on the Selected G-M Dwarfs from Long-term Photometric Series
• Flaring Latitudes in Ensembles of Low Mass Stars