Short-term evolution and coexistence of spots, plages and flare activity on LQ Hydrae

TL;DR

This study combines spectroscopic and photometric data over four months to analyze the evolution and coexistence of spots, plages, and flare activity on LQ Hydrae, revealing persistent active regions and their spatial redistribution.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed multi-method analysis of LQ Hya's active regions, showing their longevity and spatial dynamics over several months.

Findings

Active regions can persist for at least four months.

Chromospheric and photospheric active regions spatially coexist.

Active regions mainly change position rather than strength.

Abstract

Four months of quasi-simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observations were used to study the variations of the photometric light curve, the evolution of the chromospheric activity from the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ lines, and the distribution of cool spots from Doppler maps. During our observations one side of the star was more active than the other. The equivalent width of the H$\alpha$ line from the least active hemisphere increased from ~0.7 {\AA} at the beginning of the observation to 1.0 {\AA} at the end. The basal emission of the most active hemisphere remained roughly constant at a H$\alpha$ EW of ~1.0 {\AA}. Intense flare activity was observed during the first twenty days, where at least four different events were detected. The line asymmetries of the H$\alpha$ line suggest that one of the flares could have produced a mass ejection with a maximum projected speed of $\mathrm{70\thinspace km\thinspace s^{-1}}$. The rotational modulation of the V-band photometry showed clear anti-correlation with the chromospheric activity. The difference in brightness between the opposite hemispheres decreased from 0.16 to 0.09 mag in two months. Three spots gradually moving apart from each other dominated the photospheric Doppler maps. The comparison between the maps and the H$\alpha$ line as the star rotates reveals the spatial coexistence of chromospheric H$\alpha$ emission and photospheric spots. Our results indicate that the active regions of LQ Hya can live for at least four months. The detected changes in the photometric light curve and the spectroscopic Doppler images seem to be more a consequence of the spatial redistribution of the active regions rather than due to changes in their strength. Only one of the active regions shows significant changes in its chromospheric emission.