Mind the Gap II: the near-UV fluxes of M dwarfs

TL;DR

This study identifies two distinct M dwarf populations in the near-ultraviolet band, revealing increased NUV fluxes near spectral type M2 and associating spectral features with stellar activity, rotation, and age.

Contribution

It uncovers a bimodal distribution of NUV fluxes in M dwarfs and links spectral features to stellar activity, providing new insights into stellar atmospheres and magnetic phenomena.

Findings

Two populations of M dwarfs with different NUV fluxes identified.

High NUV fluxes increase near spectral type M2, linked to atmospheric H2 formation.

Fe II line forests dominate NUV spectral features, affecting flux measurements.

Abstract

Because of the continuous variations in mass, metallicity, and opacity, dwarf stars are distributed along the main sequence on optical and near-IR color-magnitude diagrams following a smooth polynomial. In this study of utilizing a catalog of cross-matched GALEX and Gaia sources, we identify two distinct populations of M dwarfs in the near-ultraviolet (NUV) band on the $M_{NUV}$ vs. $M_G$ diagram. We also reveal a pronounced increase in the number of stars exhibiting high NUV fluxes near the spectral type M2 or $M_G\sim9.4$, coinciding with the $H_2$ formation in the atmosphere to improve the energy transportation at the surface. This suggests that certain yet-to-be-understood stellar mechanisms drive heightened activity in the NUV band around the effective temperature of M2 and later types of M dwarfs. Through examination of archival Hubble Space Telescope spectra, we show that Fe II line forests at $\sim$2400A and 2800A dominate the spectral features in the GALEX NUV bandpass, contributing to the observed excess fluxes at a given mass between the two populations. Additionally, our investigation indicates that fast rotators and young stars likely increase brightness in the NUV band, but not all stars with bright NUV fluxes are fast rotators or young stars.