The Mega-MUSCLES Treasury Survey: X-ray to infrared Spectral Energy Distributions of a representative sample of M dwarfs

TL;DR

This paper presents comprehensive spectral energy distributions from X-ray to infrared for twelve M dwarf stars, aiding exoplanet research by providing detailed stellar radiation data across a range of spectral types and activity levels.

Contribution

It introduces the Mega-MUSCLES survey, providing new, detailed SEDs for M dwarfs, including exoplanet hosts, constructed from multi-wavelength observations and models, filling key parameter space.

Findings

SEDs cover 5-10^7 Angstroms for 12 M dwarfs

High-energy fluxes vary among stars with similar parameters

Provides publicly available data products for community use

Abstract

We present 5-1x10^7 Angstrom spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for twelve M dwarf stars covering spectral types M0-M8. Our SEDs are provided for community use as a sequel to the Measurements of the Ultraviolet Spectral Characteristics of Low-mass Exoplanetary Systems (MUSCLES) survey. The twelve stars include eight known exoplanet hosts and four stars chosen to fill out key parameter space in spectral type and rotation period. The SEDs are constructed from Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet spectroscopy and XMM Newton, Chandra and/or Swift X-ray observations and completed with various model data, including Lyman alpha reconstructions, PHOENIX optical models, APEC coronal models and Differential Emission Measure models in the currently-unobservable Extreme Ultraviolet. We provide a complete overview of the Mega-MUSCLES program, including a description of the observations, models, and SED construction. The SEDs are available as MAST High-Level Science Products and we describe the various data products here. We also present ensemble measurements from our sample that are of particular relevance to exoplanet science, including the high-energy fluxes in the habitable zone and the FUV/NUV ratio. Combined with MUSCLES, Mega-MUSCLES provides SEDs covering a wide range of M\,dwarf spectral types and ages such that suitable proxies for any M dwarf planet host of interest may be found in our sample. However, we find that ultraviolet and X-ray fluxes can vary even between stars with similar parameters, such that observations of each exoplanet host star will remain the gold standard for interpreting exoplanet atmosphere observations.