Coronal Mass Ejections As a Mechanism for Producing IR Variability in Debris Disks

TL;DR

This paper proposes that coronal mass ejections can cause rapid infrared variability in debris disks by removing dust grains within days, suggesting a new mechanism for observed short-term IR fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hypothesis linking stellar coronal mass ejections to IR variability in debris disks, supported by the potential for observational constraints.

Findings

Coronal mass ejections can remove dust grains on timescales of days.

Infrared variability can be explained by dust removal due to stellar activity.

Monitoring stellar activity and IR emission can test this mechanism.

Abstract

Motivated by recent observations of short-timescale variations in the infrared emission of circumstellar disks, we propose that coronal mass ejections can remove dust grains on timescales as short as a few days. Continuous monitoring of stellar activity, coupled to infrared observations, can place meaningful constraints on the proposed mechanism.