Intensities of the hydrogen Balmer lines of solar-like stars revealed by the LAMOST spectroscopic surveys

TL;DR

This study analyzes hydrogen Balmer line intensities in solar-like stars using LAMOST spectroscopic data to reveal stellar activity stages and their magnetic field implications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to calibrate and compare Balmer line indexes from different spectral surveys, revealing activity stages in solar-like stars.

Findings

Balmer line indexes correlate with stellar activity levels.

Three distinct activity stages identified in solar-like stars.

Synchronous growth of all Balmer lines in the extreme activity stage.

Abstract

The intensities of the hydrogen Balmer lines of solar-like stars are investigated for stellar chromospheric activity by using the co-source spectral data of the LAMOST Low-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey (LRS) and Medium-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey (MRS). The Balmer H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, H$\gamma$, and H$\delta$ lines in the LRS data and the H$\alpha$ line in the MRS data are analyzed. The absolute flux indexes, defined as the ratios of the absolute fluxes at the centers of the Balmer lines to the stellar bolometric flux, are employed to indicate the intensity magnitudes of the Balmer lines in response to stellar activity. The H$\alpha$ indexes derived from the LRS data and the MRS data, respectively, are calibrated to be quantitatively consistent with each other. It is found that, as the H$\alpha$ index increases, the H$\beta$, H$\gamma$, and H$\delta$ indexes first present trend of increasing and then decreasing, and finally increase synchronously with the H$\alpha$ index. The distributions of the Balmer line indexes also reveal the three distinct stages of stellar activity (normal stage, intense stage, and extremely intense stage), in which the extremely intense stage is characterized by the synchronous growth of the indexes of the four Balmer lines. The different behaviors of the H$\beta$, H$\gamma$, and H$\delta$ lines from that of the H$\alpha$ line can be interpreted by the different mechanisms by which the line-core intensities are formed, and the three distinct activity stages imply the very different magnetic field environments and physical conditions of solar-like stars.