X-Ray and Ultraviolet Flares on AT Microscopii Observed by AstroSat

Abstract

We present observations of the active M-dwarf binary AT Mic (dM4.5e+dM4.5e) obtained with the orbital observatory AstroSat. During 20 ks of observations, in the far ultraviolet ($130-180$ nm) and soft X-ray ($0.3-7$ keV) spectral ranges, we detected both quiescent emission and at least five flares on different components of the binary. The X-ray flares were typically longer than and delayed (by $5-6$ min) with respect to their ultraviolet counterparts, in agreement with the Neupert effect. Using X-ray spectral fits, we have estimated the parameters of the emitting plasma. The results indicate the presence of a hot multi-thermal corona with the average temperatures in the range of $\sim 7-15$ MK and the emission measure of $\sim (2.9-4.5)\times 10^{52}$ ${\text{cm}}^{-3}$; both the temperature and the emission measure increased during the flares. The estimated abundance of heavy elements in the corona of AT Mic is considerably lower than at the Sun ($\sim 0.18-0.34$ of the solar photospheric value); the coronal abundance increased during the flares due to chromospheric evaporation. The detected flares had the energies of $\sim 10^{31}-10^{32}$ erg; the energy-duration relations indicate the presence of magnetic fields stronger than in typical solar flares.

Accepted for publication in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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