arXiv subjects

Kazunari Shibata

Publications and source records attributed to Kazunari Shibata.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Multiwavelength Campaign Observations of a Young Solar-type Star, EK Draconis. III. Comparison between Starspot Mapping, Zeeman Doppler Imaging, and Multiwavelength Variability

Recent simultaneous multiwavelength observations of a nearby young solar-type star EK Dra in the optical, H$α$ spectrum, and X-ray, have provided evidence for stellar prominence eruptions associated with superflares. The large prominence eruption is suggested to have been caused by a large mid-latitude spot on the polarity inversion lines near the stellar limb from the concurrent Zeeman Doppler Imaging (ZDI) and optical photometry by the TESS. In this study, we perform starspot mapping for the TESS data of EK Dra to investigate the relation of starspots and magnetic fields from the photometry and ZDI. We also explore the multiwavelength rotational variability ascribed to starspots and active regions for the TESS, B-band, H$α$, and X-ray light curves. As a result, we find that (i) spot locations deduced from the TESS light curve are mostly consistent with the intensity map from the ZDI except for a polar spot, and (ii) the H$α$ light curve exhibits clear periodicity with respect to the TESS light curve because the H$α$ line is radiated around spots in the chromosphere. The X-ray light curve does not show such association probably because of multiple spots on high activity level and extended spatial structure of coronal active regions. The results provide clues to explore their association with stellar flares at different heights of active regions in chromospheric and coronal lines. Our study also enables us to quantify the stellar XUV radiation from the magnetic fields of active stars toward understanding atmospheric evolution of exoplanets.

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arXiv2026

Statistical Study of Appearance Timing of H$α$ Postflare Loops: Simple Scaling Law Based on Radiative Cooling

Recent Sun-as-a-star studies have shown that postflare loops can manifest as a secondary peak in the H$α$ light curve, suggesting that stellar postflare loops are detectable. To understand what determines the timing of such a secondary peak in the H$α$ light curve associated with postflare loops, we must quantitatively identify the key physical processes controlling the appearance of H$α$ postflare loops. Previous case studies have indicated that the appearance timing of H$α$ postflare loops is likely governed by radiative cooling. However, the statistical characteristics of the timing of H$α$ postflare loops appearance remain insufficiently investigated. In this study, we statistically investigated the appearance timing of H$α$ postflare loops to quantify their cooling processes. As a result, we found a negative correlation between the time difference between the soft X-ray peak and the appearance of the H$α$ postflare loops ($Δt$) and the soft X-ray peak flux ($F_\mathrm{X}$). This relationship is consistent with the theoretical scaling between radiative cooling timescale ($τ_{\mathrm{rad}}$) and $F_\mathrm{X}$, where $τ_{\mathrm{rad}} \propto~F_\mathrm{X}^{-1/2}$. This statistical result indicates that the appearance timing of H$α$ postflare loops relative to the soft X-ray peak is primarily controlled by radiative cooling. Furthermore, we examined the dependence of the scaling law on flare spatial scales ($L$). Consequently, we demonstrated that spatial scale of unresolved stellar flares can be estimated using the following scaling law: $L\propto F_\mathrm{X}^{1/3}Δt^{2/3}$. Our results are useful for interpreting secondary peaks in the H$α$ data of stellar flares and provide new method to estimate spatial scale of unresolved stellar flares.

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arXiv2025

Discovery of multi-temperature coronal mass ejection signatures from a young solar analogue

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the early Sun may have profoundly influenced the planetary atmospheres of early Solar System planets. Flaring young solar analogues serve as excellent proxies for probing the plasma environment of the young Sun, yet their CMEs remain poorly understood. Here we report the detection of multi-wavelength Doppler shifts in Far-Ultraviolet (FUV) and optical lines during a flare on the young solar analog EK Draconis. During and before a Carrington-class ($\sim$10$^{32}$ erg) flare, warm FUV lines ($\sim$10$^5$ K) exhibit blueshifted emission at 300-550 km s$^{-1}$, indicative of a warm eruption. 10 minutes later, the H$α$ line shows slow (70 km s$^{-1}$), long-lasting ($\gtrsim$2 hrs) blueshifted absorptions, suggesting a cool ($\sim$10$^4$ K) filament eruption. This provides evidence of multi-temperature and multi-component nature of a stellar CME. If Carrington-class flares/CMEs occurred frequently on the young Sun, they may have cumulatively impacted the early Earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere.

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arXiv2025

Do Young Suns Produce Frequent, Massive CMEs? Results from Five-year Dedicated Optical Observations of EK Draconis and V889 Hercules

We report results from a five-year (132-night) dedicated observational campaign targeting two nearby young solar-type stars, EK Draconis ($\sim$50-125 Myr age) and V889 Hercules ($\sim$30 Myr age), using the 3.8m Seimei Telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. The aim is to observationally constrain statistical properties of flaring radiation/heating as well as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), through high time-cadence H$α$ spectroscopy. We obtained an unprecedented sample of 15 H$α$ superflares, including two blueshifted absorption, two blueshifted emission, one redshifted emission, and nine line broadening events. We obtain the following results: (1) Larger flares exhibit broader H$α$ line widths, up to 14.1$_{\pm 2.4}$ Å, indicating higher chromospheric heating than solar flares. (2) The long-lasting redshifted event at $\sim$100 km s$^{-1}$ may indicate dense post-flare loops. (3) H$α$ blueshifted absorptions/emissions provide evidence of massive filament/prominence eruptions, the core structures of CMEs. One newly identified event showed an unexpected rapid decrease in velocity. (4) The lower limit of the CME/eruption association rate with superflares is 27$_{-16}^{+25}$%, yielding occurrence rates of 0.21$_{\pm0.12}$ and $<$0.32$^{+0.46}_{-0.32}$ events per day for EK Draconis and V889 Hercules, respectively. (5) We derived the first direct estimate of the lower limit of the mass-loss rate driven by super-CMEs ($\gtrsim10^{33}$ erg) for EK Dra as $4 \times (10^{-13}$-$10^{-12})$ $M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, comparable to the stellar wind mass loss at a similar age. This study provides critical observational constraints on the radiation and plasma environment around young solar-type stars and the early Sun, which can drive planetary space weather and stellar mass/angular momentum loss.

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arXiv2025

Time evolution of white-light flare accompanied by probable postflare loops on M-type dwarf EV Lacertae

White-light flares are explosive phenomena accompanied by brightening of continuum from near-ultraviolet to optical, which occur on the Sun and stars. In order to investigate the mechanism of white-light flares, we carried out simultaneous optical photometry (TESS : 6000-10000 Å) and spectroscopy (Seimei Telescope : 4100-8900 Å) of a M-dwarf EV Lac on 2019 September 14. We detected a flare with high-time-cadence ($\sim 50$ sec) spectroscopic observation. At the peak, the continuum of the flare component is well fitted by a blackbody spectrum with temperature of $T = 8122 \pm 273$ K, which is comparable with the results of previous studies that reported the spectral energy distribution of near-ultraviolet to optical during the flare could be approximated by single-temperature blackbody radiation at $T \sim 10^{4}$ K. We also estimated the time evolution of the flare temperature during the decay phase. The radiative energy of this flare within the optical range is $4.4 \times 10^{32}$ erg, taking into account the time-dependent variation in the decreasing flare temperature and expanding flare area. Furthermore, we detected a delayed increase in the flux of H$α$ after the photometric flare peak, secondary increase, and gradual increase even after the white-light flare ended. Comparison of our results with light curves obtained by the Sun-as-a-star analysis of solar flares indicates that these signals may be due to postflare loops near the stellar limb. Our result about time evolution of white-light continuum will help to gain more insight into the mechanism of white-light flares both on the Sun and stars. Additionally, since extreme ultraviolet radiation from flare loops plays a key role in planetary atmospheric escape, the existence of postflare loops on stellar flares and its time evolution will help future studies about habitability of close-in planets.

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arXiv2024

Multiwavelength Campaign Observations of a Young Solar-type Star, EK Draconis. II. Understanding Prominence Eruption through Data-Driven Modeling and Observed Magnetic Environment

EK Draconis, a nearby young solar-type star (G1.5V, 50-120 Myr), is known as one of the best proxies for inferring the environmental conditions of the young Sun. The star frequently produces superflares and Paper I presented the first evidence of an associated gigantic prominence eruption observed as a blueshifted H$α$ Balmer line emission. In this paper, we present the results of dynamical modeling of the stellar eruption and examine its relationship to the surface starspots and large-scale magnetic fields observed concurrently with the event. By performing a one-dimensional free-fall dynamical model and a one dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of the flow along the expanding magnetic loop, we found that the prominence eruption likely occurred near the stellar limb (12$^{+5}_{-5}$-16$^{+7}_{-7}$ degrees from the limb) and was ejected at an angle of 15$^{+6}_{-5}$-24$^{+6}_{-6}$ degrees relative to the line of sight, and the magnetic structures can expand into a coronal mass ejection (CME). The observed prominence displayed a terminal velocity of $\sim$0 km s$^{-1}$ prior to disappearance, complicating the interpretation of its dynamics in Paper I. The models in this paper suggest that prominence's H$α$ intensity diminishes at around or before its expected maximum height, explaining the puzzling time evolution in observations. The TESS light curve modeling and (Zeeman) Doppler Imaging revealed large mid-latitude spots with polarity inversion lines and one polar spot with dominant single polarity, all near the stellar limb during the eruption. This suggests that mid-latitude spots could be the source of the pre-existing gigantic prominence we reported in Paper I. These results provide valuable insights into the dynamic processes that likely influenced the environments of early Earth, Mars, Venus, and young exoplanets.

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arXiv2024

Sun-as-a-star Analysis of the X1.6 Flare on 2023 August 5: Dynamics of Post-flare Loops in Spatially Integrated Observational Data

Post-flare loops are loop-like plasmas observed during the decay phase of solar flares, and they are expected to exist for stellar flares. However, it is unclear how post-flare loops are observed in stellar flares' cases. To clarify behaviors of post-flare loops in spatially integrated data, we performed the Sun-as-a-star analysis of the X1.6 flare that occurred on 2023 August 5, using GOES X-ray flux ($\sim10^7$ K), extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images taken by Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamic Observatory ($\ge10^{4.9}$ K) and H$α$ data taken by Solar Dynamics Doppler Imager on board the Solar Magnetic Activity Research Telescope at Hida Observatory, Kyoto University ($\sim10^4$ K). As a result, this flare showed signatures corresponding to the important dynamics of the post-flare loops even in the spatially integrated data: (1) The H$α$ light curve showed two distinct peaks corresponding to the flare ribbons and the post-flare loops. The plasma cooling in the post-flare loops generated different peak times in soft X-rays, EUV, and H$α$ light curves. (2) Downflows were confirmed as simultaneous redshifted/blueshifted absorptions in the H$α$ spectra. (3) The apparent rise of post-flare loops was recognized as a slowing of the decay for the H$α$ light curve. These results are keys to investigating stellar post-flare loops with spatially integrated data. We also discuss the dependence of our results on flare locations and their possible applications to stellar observations.

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arXiv2024

A fast-filament eruption observed in the H$α$ spectral line. I. Imaging spectroscopy diagnostic

Context. Solar filament eruptions usually appear to occur in association with the sudden explosive release of magnetic energy accumulated in long-lived arched magnetic structures. It is the released energy that occasionally drives fast-filament eruptions that can be source regions of coronal mass ejections. Aim. The goal of this paper is to investigate the dynamic processes of a fast-filament eruption by using unprecedented high-resolution full-disk H$α$ imaging spectroscopy observations. Methods. The whole process of the eruption was captured in a wide spectral window of the H$α$ line ($\pm9.0$ A). Applying the "cloud model" and obtaining two dimensional optical thickness spectra we derive the Doppler velocity, the true eruption profiles (height, velocity, and acceleration), and the trajectory of the filament eruption in 3D space. Results. The Doppler velocity maps show that the filament was predominantly blue-shifted. During the main and final process of the eruption, strongly blue-shifted materials are manifested traveling with velocities exceeding $250~km/s$. The spectral analysis further revealed that the erupting filament is made of multiple components, some of which were Doppler-shifted approximately to $-300 ~km/s$. It is found that the filament eruption attains a maximum true velocity and acceleration of about $600~km/s$ and $2.5~km/s^2$, respectively, and its propagation direction deviates from the radial direction. On the other hand, downflows manifested as red-shifted plasma close to the footpoints of the erupting filament move with velocities $45-125~ km/s$. We interpret these red-shifted signatures as draining material, and therefore mass loss of the filament that has implications for the dynamic and the acceleration process of the eruption. Furthermore, we have estimated the total mass of the H$α$ filament resulting in $\sim$$5.4\times10^{15}g$.

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arXiv2024

Calcium bright knots and the formation of chromospheric anemone jets on the Sun

Space-based observations show that the solar atmosphere from the solar chromosphere to the solar corona is filled with small-scale jets and is linked with small-scale explosions. These jets may be produced by mechanisms similar to that of large-scale flares and such jets may be related to the heating of corona and chromosphere as well as the acceleration of solar wind. The chromospheric anemone jets on the Sun remain puzzling because their footpoints (or bright knots) have not been well resolved and the formation process of such enigmatic small-scale jets remains unclear. We propose a new model for chromospheric jets using the three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, which show that the continuous, upward rising of small-scale twisted magnetic flux ropes in a magnetized solar chromosphere drive small-scale magnetic reconnection and the launching of several small-scale jets during the evolution of the chromospheric anemone jets. Our new, self-consistent, three-dimensional computer modeling of small-scale, but ever-changing flux rope emergence in the magnetized solar atmosphere is fully consistent with observations and provides a universal mechanism for nanoflare and jet formation.

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arXiv2024

Simple Model for Temporal Variations of H$α$ Spectrum by an Eruptive Filament from a Superflare on a Solar-type Star

Flares are intense explosions on the solar and stellar surfaces, and solar flares are sometimes accompanied by filament or prominence eruptions. Recently, a large filament eruption associated with a superflare on a solar-type star EK Dra was discovered for the first time. The absorption of the H$α$ spectrum initially exhibited a blueshift with the velocity of $510$ (km s$^{-1}$), and decelerated in time probably due to gravity. Stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were thought to occur, although the filament eruption did not exceed the escape velocity under the surface gravity. To investigate how such filament eruption occur and whether CMEs are associated with the filament eruption or not, we perform one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of the flow along an expanding magnetic loop emulating a filament eruption under adiabatic and unsteady conditions. The loop configuration and expanding velocity normal to the loop are specified in the configuration parameters, and we calculate the line-of-sight velocity of the filament eruption using the velocities along and normal to the loop. We found that (i) the temporal variations of the H$α$ spectrum for EK Dra can be explained by falling filament eruption in the loop with longer time and larger spatial scales than that of the Sun, and (ii) the stellar CMEs are also thought to be associated with the filament eruption from the superflare on EK Dra, because the rarefied loop unobserved in the H$α$ spectrum needs to expand faster than the escape velocity, whereas the observed filament eruption does not exceed the escape velocity.

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arXiv2023

Multiwavelength observation of an active M-dwarf star EV Lac and its stellar flare accompanied by a delayed prominence eruption

We conducted 4-night multiwavelength observations of an active M-dwarf star EV Lac on 2022 October 24$-$27 with simultaneous coverage of soft X-rays (NICER; 0.2$-$12 $\mathrm{keV}$, Swift XRT; 0.2$-$10 $\mathrm{keV}$), near-ultraviolet (Swift UVOT/UVW2; 1600$-$3500 Å), optical photometry (TESS; 6000$-$10000 Å), and optical spectroscopy (Nayuta/MALLS; 6350$-$6800 Å). During the campaign, we detected a flare starting at 12:28 UTC on October 25 with its white-light bolometric energy of $3.4 \times 10^{32}$ erg. At about 1 hour after this flare peak, our $\mathrm{Hα}$ spectrum showed a blue-shifted excess component at its corresponding velocity of $\sim 100 \: \mathrm{km \: s^{-1}}$. This may indicate that the prominence erupted with a 1-hour delay of the flare peak. Furthermore, the simultaneous 20-second cadence near-ultraviolet and white-light curves show gradual and rapid brightening behaviors during the rising phase at this flare. The ratio of flux in NUV to white light at the gradual brightening was $\sim 0.49$, which may suggest that the temperature of the blackbody is low ($< 9000 \: \mathrm{K}$) or the maximum energy flux of a nonthermal electron beam is less than $5\times10^{11} \: \mathrm{erg \: cm^{-2} \: s^{-1}}$. Our simultaneous observations of NUV and white-light flare raise the issue of a simple estimation of UV flux from optical continuum data by using a blackbody model.

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arXiv2023

Multiwavelength Campaign Observations of a Young Solar-type Star, EK Draconis. I. Discovery of Prominence Eruptions Associated with Superflares

Young solar-type stars frequently produce superflares, serving as a unique window into the young Sun-Earth environments. Large solar flares are closely linked to coronal mass ejections (CMEs) associated with filament/prominence eruptions, but its observational evidence for stellar superflares remains scarce. Here, we present a 12-day multi-wavelength campaign observation of young solar-type star EK Draconis (G1.5V, 50-120 Myr age) utilizing TESS, NICER, and Seimei telescope. The star has previously exhibited blueshifted H$α$ absorptions as evidence for a filament eruption associated with a superflare. Our simultaneous optical and X-ray observations identified three superflares of $1.5\times10^{33}$ -- $1.2\times10^{34}$ erg. We report the first discovery of two prominence eruptions on a solar-type star, observed as blueshifted H$α$ emissions at speed of 690 and 430 km s$^{-1}$ and masses of $1.1\times10^{19}$ and $3.2\times10^{17}$ g, respectively. The faster, massive event shows a candidate of post-flare X-ray dimming with the amplitude of up to $\sim$10 \%. Several observational aspects consistently point to the occurrence of a fast CME associated with this event. The comparative analysis of the estimated length scales of flare loops, prominences, possible dimming region, and starspots provides the overall picture of the eruptive phenomena. Furthermore, the energy partition of the observed superflares in the optical and X-ray bands is consistent with flares from the Sun, M-dwarfs, and close binaries, yielding the unified empirical relations. These discoveries provide profound implications of impact of these eruptive events on the early Venus, Earth and Mars and young exoplanets.

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arXiv2023

APO & SMARTS flare star campaign observations I. Blue wing asymmetries in chromospheric lines during mid M dwarf flares from simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observation data

We conducted the time-resolved simultaneous optical spectroscopic and photometric observations of mid M dwarf flare stars YZ CMi, EV Lac, and AD Leo. Spectroscopic observations were obtained using Apache Point Observatory 3.5m and Small \& Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System 1.5m telescopes during 31 nights. Among the 41 detected flares, seven flares showed clear blue wing asymmetries in the H$α$ line, with various correspondences in flare properties. The duration of the blue wing asymmetries range from 20 min to 2.5 hours, including a flare showing the shift from blue to red wing asymmetry. Blue wing asymmetries can be observed during both white-light and candidate non white-light flares. All of the seven flares showed blue wing asymmetries also in the H$β$ line, but there are large varieties on which other chromospheric lines showed blue wing asymmetries. One among the 7 flares was also observed with soft X-ray spectroscopy, which enabled us to estimate the flare magnetic field and length of the flare loop. The line-of-sight velocities of the blue-shifted components range from -73 to -122 km s$^{-1}$. Assuming that the blue-shifts were caused by prominence eruptions, the mass of upward moving plasma was estimated to be 10$^{15}$ -- 10$^{19}$ g, which are roughly on the relation between flare energy and erupting mass expected from solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Although further investigations are necessary for understanding the observed various properties, these possible prominence eruptions on M-dwarfs could evolve into CMEs, assuming the similar acceleration mechanism with solar eruptions.

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arXiv2023

Thermodynamic properties of small flares in the quiet Sun observed by H$α$ and EUV: plasma motion of the chromosphere and time evolution of temperature/emission measure

Small flares frequently occur in the quiet Sun. Previous studies have noted that they share many common characteristics with typical solar flares in active regions. However, their similarities and differences are not fully understood, especially their thermal properties. In this study, we performed imaging spectroscopic observations in the H$α$ line taken with the Solar Dynamics Doppler Imager on the Solar Magnetic Activity Research Telescope (SMART/SDDI) at the Hida Observatory and imaging observations with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/AIA). We analysed 25 cases of small flares in the quiet Sun over the thermal energy range of $10^{24}-10^{27}\,\mathrm{erg}$, paying particular attention to their thermal properties. Our main results are as follows: (1) We observe a redshift together with line centre brightening in the H$α$ line associated with more than half of the small flares. (2) We employ differential emission measure analysis using AIA multi-temperature (channel) observations to obtain the emission measure and temperature of the small flares. The results are consistent with the Shibata & Yokoyama (1999, 2002) scaling law. From the scaling law, we estimated the coronal magnetic field strength of small flares to be 5 --15 G. (3) The temporal evolution of the temperature and the density shows that the temperature peaks precede the density peaks in more than half of the events. These results suggest that chromospheric evaporations/condensations play an essential role in the thermal properties of some of the small flares in the quiet Sun, as does for large flares.

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arXiv2023

Starspot mapping with adaptive parallel tempering. II. Application to TESS data for M-dwarf flare stars, AU Microscopii, YZ Canis Minoris, and EV Lacertae

Starspots and stellar flares are indicators of stellar magnetic activity.The magnetic energy stored around spots is thought to be the origin of flares, but the connection is not completely understood. To investigate the relation between spot locations deduced from the light curves and occurrence of flares therein, we perform starspot modeling for TESS light curves of three M-dwarf flare stars, AU Mic, YZ CMi, and EV Lac, using the code implemented in Paper I. The code enables to deduce multiple stellar/spot parameters by the adaptive parallel tempering algorithm efficiently. We found that flare occurrence frequency is not necessarily correlated with the rotation phases of the light curve for each star. The result of starspot modeling shows that either spot is always visible to the line of sight in all phases, and we suggest that this can be one of the reasons that there is no or less correlation between rotation phases and flare frequency. In addition, the amplitude and shape of the light curve for AU Mic and YZ CMi have varied in two years between different TESS Cycles. The result of starspot modeling suggests that this can be explained by the variations of spot size and latitude.

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arXiv2023

Detection of a high-velocity prominence eruption leading to a CME associated with a superflare on the RS CVn-type star V1355 Orionis

Stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have recently received much attention for their impacts on exoplanets and stellar evolution. Detecting prominence eruptions, the initial phase of CMEs, as the blue-shifted excess component of Balmer lines is a technique to capture stellar CMEs. However, most of prominence eruptions identified thus far have been slow and less than the surface escape velocity. Therefore, whether these eruptions were developing into CMEs remained unknown. In this study, we conducted simultaneous optical photometric observations with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and optical spectroscopic observations with the 3.8m Seimei Telescope for the RS CVn-type star V1355 Orionis that frequently produces large-scale superflares. We detected a superflare releasing $7.0 \times 10^{35} \: \mathrm{erg}$. In the early stage of this flare, a blue-shifted excess component of $\mathrm{H α}$ extending its velocity up to $760-1690 \: \mathrm{km \: s^{-1}}$ was observed and thought to originate from prominence eruptions. The velocity greatly exceeds the escape velocity (i.e., $\sim 350 \: \mathrm{km \: s^{-1}}$), which provides important evidence that stellar prominence eruptions can develop into CMEs. Furthermore, we found that the prominence is very massive ($9.5 \times 10^{18} \: \mathrm{g} < M < 1.4 \times 10^{21} \: \mathrm{g}$). These data will clarify whether such events follow existing theories and scaling laws on solar flares and CMEs even when the energy scale far exceeds solar cases.

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arXiv2023

A Superflare on YZ Canis Minoris Observed by Seimei Telescope and TESS: Red Asymmetry of H$α$ Emission Associated with White-Light Emission

Active M-type stars are known to often produce superflares on the surface. Radiation from stellar (super-)flares is important for the exoplanet habitability, but the mechanisms are not well understood. In this paper, we report simultaneous optical spectroscopic and photometric observations of a stellar superflare on an active M dwarf YZ CMi with the 3.8-m Seimei telescope and the $Transiting\, Exoplanet\, Survey\, Satellite$. The flare bolometric energy was $1.3^{+1.6}_{-0.6} \times 10^{34} \,\rm{erg}$ and H$α$ energy was $3.0^{+0.1}_{-0.1} \times 10^{32} \,\rm{erg}$. The H$α$ emission line profile showed red asymmetry throughout the flare with a duration of $4.6-5.1 \,\rm{hrs}$. The velocity of the red asymmetry was $\sim 200-500 \,\rm{km\,s^{-1}}$ and line width of H$α$ was broadened up to $34 \pm 14$ $Å$. The redshifted velocity and line width of H$α$ line decayed more rapidly than the equivalent width, and their time evolutions are correlated with that of the white-light emission. This indicates a possibility that the white light, H$α$ red asymmetry, and H$α$ line broadening originate from nearly the same site, i.e., the dense chromospheric condensation region heated by non-thermal electrons. On the other hand, the flux ratio of the redshifted excess components to the central components is enhanced one hour after the flare onset. This may be due to the change of the main source of the red asymmetry to the post-flare loops in the later phase of the flare.

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arXiv2022

Unified Relationship between Cold Plasma Ejections and Flare Energies Ranging from Solar Microflares to Giant Stellar Flares

We often find spectral signatures of chromospheric cold plasma ejections accompanied by flares in a wide range of spatial scales in the solar and stellar atmospheres. However, the relationship between physical quantities (such as mass, kinetic energy, and velocity) of cold ejecta and flare energy has not been investigated in a unified manner for the entire range of flare energies to date. This study analyzed the spectra of cold plasma ejections associated with small-scale flares and solar flares (energy $10^{25}-10^{29}\,\mathrm{erg}$) to supply smaller energy samples. We performed H$α$ imaging spectroscopy observation by the Solar Dynamics Doppler Imager on the Solar Magnetic Activity Research Telescope (SMART/SDDI). We determined the physical quantities of the ejecta by cloud model fitting to the H$α$ spectrum. We determined flare energy by differential emission measure analysis using Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/AIA) for small-scale flares and by estimating the bolometric energy for large-scale flares. As a result, we found that the ejection mass $M$ and the total flare energy $E_{\mathrm{tot}}$ follow a relation of $M\propto E_{\mathrm{tot}}^{2/3}$. We show that the scaling law derived from a simple physical model explains the solar and stellar observations with a coronal magnetic field strength as a free parameter. We also found that the kinetic energy and velocity of the ejecta correlate with the flare energy. These results suggest a common mechanism driven by magnetic fields to cause cold plasma ejections with flares on the Sun and stars.

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