HAZMAT I: The Evolution of Far-UV and Near-UV Emission from Early M Stars

TL;DR

This study investigates the evolution of UV emission from early M stars over time, revealing a saturation phase followed by a decline, which impacts planetary atmosphere modeling and habitability assessments.

Contribution

It provides empirical measurements of UV flux evolution in early M stars using GALEX data, filling a gap in understanding stellar activity's impact on exoplanet atmospheres.

Findings

UV flux remains saturated for a few hundred million years.

UV flux drops by a factor of 2-3 by 650 Myr.

Wide variability in UV emission persists at all ages.

Abstract

The spectral energy distribution, variability and evolution of the high-energy radiation from an M dwarf planet host is crucial in understanding the planet's atmospheric evolution and habitability and in interpreting the planet's spectrum. The star's extreme-UV (EUV), far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV) emission can chemically modify, ionize, and erode the atmosphere over time. This makes determining the lifetime exposure of such planets to stellar UV radiation critical for both the evolution of a planet's atmosphere and our potential to characterize it. Using the early M star members of nearby young moving groups (YMGs), which sample critical ages in planet formation and evolution, we measure the GALEX NUV and FUV flux as a function of age. The median UV flux remains at a "saturated" level for a few hundred million years, analogous to that observed for X-ray emission. By the age of the Hyades Cluster (650 Myr), we measure a drop in UV flux by a factor of 2-3 followed by a steep drop from old (several Gyrs) field stars. This decline in activity beyond 300 Myr follows roughly t^{-1}. Despite this clear evolution, there remains a wide range of 1-2 orders of magnitude in observed emission levels at every age. These UV data supply the much-needed constraints to M dwarf upper-atmosphere models, which will provide empirically-motivated EUV predictions and more accurate age-dependent UV spectra as inputs to planetary photochemical models.