Infrared Flares from M Dwarfs: a Hinderance to Future Transiting Exoplanet Studies

TL;DR

Infrared flares from M dwarfs can significantly hinder exoplanet transit observations, posing challenges for future IR-based exoplanet studies despite reduced impact from starspots and faculae.

Contribution

This paper highlights the specific challenge posed by stellar flares in the infrared, which was previously underestimated compared to starspots and faculae.

Findings

Infrared flares can obscure or mimic transit signals.

Flares pose a significant obstacle for IR exoplanet characterization.

Stellar activity impacts vary across different types of stellar phenomena.

Abstract

Many current and future exoplanet missions are pushing to infrared (IR) wavelengths where the flux contrast between the planet and star is more favorable (Deming et al. 2009), and the impact of stellar magnetic activity is decreased. Indeed, a recent analysis of starspots and faculae found these forms of stellar activity do not substantially impact the transit signatures or science potential for FGKM stars with JWST (Zellem et al. 2017). However, this is not true in the case of flares, which I demonstrate can be a hinderance to transit studies in this note.