Combined Spectroscopic and Photometric Analysis of Flares in the Dwarf M Star EV Lacertae

TL;DR

This study combines spectroscopic and photometric data to analyze stellar flares on EV Lacertae, revealing detailed temporal and energetic properties, temperature variations, and emission line behaviors during flares.

Contribution

It provides the first simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric analysis of flares on EV Lacertae, including detailed measurements of flare energies, temperatures, and emission line evolution.

Findings

Flare energies ranged from Log E = 30.8 to 32.6 erg.

Continuum flux peaks before emission lines in bright flares.

Black-body temperatures of flares ranged from 10,500 K to 19,500 K.

Abstract

We report results of an observing campaign to study the dwarf M flare star EV Lacertae. Between October 2021 and January 2022 we obtained concurrent B band photometry and low resolution spectroscopy of EV Lac on 39 occasions during 10 of which we observed flares with amplitude greater than 0.1 magnitude. Spectra were calibrated in absolute flux using concurrent photometry and flare-only spectra obtained by subtracting mean quiescent spectra. We measured B band flare energies between Log E = 30.8 and 32.6 erg. In the brightest flares we measured temporal development of flare flux in H I and He I emission lines and in the adjacent continuum and found that flux in the continuum subsided more rapidly than in the emission lines. Although our time resolution was limited, in our brightest flare we saw flux in the continuum clearly peaking before flux in the emission lines. We observed a progressive decrease in flare energy from H\b{eta} to H{\delta}. On average we found 37% of B band flare energy appeared in the H\b{eta} to H{\epsilon} emission lines with the remainder contributing to a rise in continuum flux. We measured black-body temperatures for the brightest flares between 10,500 +- 700 K and 19,500 +- 500 K and found a linear relationship between flare temperature and continuum flux at 4170 {\AA}. Balmer lines in flare-only spectra were well fitted by Gaussian profiles with some evidence of additional short-lived blue-shifted emission at the flare peak.