Optical flare activity in the low-mass eclipsing binary GJ~3236

TL;DR

This study observes and analyzes flare activity and star spots in the low-mass eclipsing binary GJ 3236, confirming its fundamental parameters and revealing complex flare behaviors and spot evolution.

Contribution

First detailed analysis of flare activity and spot evolution in GJ 3236, confirming fundamental parameters and identifying high-energy flares.

Findings

Detected 7 flares with a rate of 0.1 per hour.

Identified a large polar spot on the primary star.

Observed complex, high-energy flare events.

Abstract

We present our observations of the low-mass eclipsing binary GJ~3236. We have analyzed a phased $R_C$ light-curve and confirmed previously determined fundamental parameters of the components. We detected evolution of the spot(s) and found that there exists a large spot near a polar region of the primary component and another spot either on the primary or the secondary component. We also observed 7 flare events and determined a flare rate of about 0.1 flares per hour. We observed two high energy, long-term flares with a complex light curve and possibly four weak short-term flaring events. A majority of the flares was detected in the $R_C$ filter, which indicate their high energy.