A Statistical Study of Soft X-ray Flares on Solar-type Stars

TL;DR

This study analyzes soft X-ray flares on solar-type stars using Chandra and Gaia data, revealing their energy range, duration-energy relation, and flare frequency distribution, which differ from optical bands and suggest distinct radiation mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces new methods for identifying and classifying stellar soft X-ray flares and provides the first detailed statistical analysis of these flares on solar-type stars.

Findings

Flare energies range from 10^33 to 10^37 erg, with superflares up to 6×10^37 erg.

Flare duration scales with energy as T ∝ E^0.201, differing from optical/NIR bands.

Flare frequency distribution follows a power law with index -1.77, similar to other bands.

Abstract

The statistical characteristic of stellar flares at optical bands has received an extensive study, but it remains to be studied at soft X-ray bands, in particular for solar-type stars. Here, we present a statistical study of soft X-ray flares on solar-type stars, which can help understand multi-wavelength behaviors of stellar flares. We mainly use Chandra Source Catalog Release 2.0, which includes a number of flaring stars with denoted variability, and Gaia Data Release 3, which includes necessary information for classifying stars. We also develop a set of methods for identifying and classifying stellar soft X-ray flares and estimating their properties. A detailed statistical investigation for 129 flare samples on 103 nearby solar-type stars as selected yields the following main results. (1) The flare energy emitted at the soft X-ray band in our sample ranges from $\sim 10^{33}$ to $\sim 10^{37} \ \mathrm{erg}$, and the majority of them are superflares with the most energetic one having energy of $6.0_{-4.7}^{+3.2} \times 10^{37} \ \mathrm{erg}$. (2) The flare duration is related to its energy as formulated by $T_\mathrm{duration,SXR} \propto E_\mathrm{flare,SXR}^{\ 0.201 \pm 0.024}$, which is different from those derived at optical and NIR bands, indicating distinct radiation mechanisms at different bands. (3) The frequency distribution of stellar flares as a function of energy is formulated as $\mathrm{d} N_\mathrm{flare} / \mathrm{d} E_\mathrm{flare,SXR} \propto E_\mathrm{flare,SXR}^{\ -1.77}$, which is similar to the results found at other bands and on other types of stars, indicating that the energy emitted at the soft X-ray band could be a constant fraction of the full-band bolometric energy.