K2 Ultracool Dwarfs Survey I: Photometry of an L Dwarf Superflare

TL;DR

This paper reports the detection and analysis of a superflare on an L1 dwarf star using Kepler K2 data, revealing a highly energetic white light flare with detailed temporal characteristics.

Contribution

First detailed photometric analysis of a superflare on an L1 dwarf, providing insights into flare energies and cooling phases in ultracool dwarfs.

Findings

Flare peak was 21 times the stellar flux, with an energy of 4×10^{33} erg.

The flare's cooling phase has an exponential time constant of 1.8 hours.

The flare reached a maximum of about 70 times the stellar photosphere brightness.

Abstract

We report on K2 Campaign 8 measurements of a huge white light flare on the L1 dwarf SDSSp J005406.55-003101.8 (EPIC 220186653). The source is a typical L1 dwarf at a distance of $\sim50$ pc, probably an old hydrogen-burning star rather than a young brown dwarf. In the long (30-minute) cadence photometry, the flare peak is 21 times the flux of the stellar photosphere in the broad optical Kepler filter, which we estimate corresponds to $\Delta V \approx -7.1$. The total equivalent duration of the flare is 15.4 hr. We estimate the total bolometric energy of the flare was $4 \times 10^{33}$ erg, more powerful than the previously reported Kepler white light flares for the L1 dwarf WISEP J190648.47+401106.8, but weaker than the $\Delta V = -11$ L0 dwarf superflare ASASSN-16ae. The initial (impulsive) cooling phase is too rapid to resolve with our 30-minute cadence data, but after one hour the gradual cooling phase has an exponential time constant of 1.8 hours. We use template fitting to estimate that the full-time-width-at-half-amplitude of the light curve is $<10$ minutes and that the true flare maximum reached $\sim70$ times the stellar photosphere, or $\Delta V \approx -8$. This flare is comparable to the most powerful Kepler flares observed on the active M4 dwarf GJ 1243.