Detection of an energetic flare from the M5V secondary star in the Polar MQ Dra



: Ramsay Gavin, Hakala Pasi, Wood Matt A

Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS

: 2021

: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

: MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

: MON NOT R ASTRON SOC

: 504

: 3

: 4072

: 4076

: 5

: 0035-8711

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1140

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/66412927


MQ Dra is a strongly magnetic Cataclysmic Variable whose white dwarf accretes material from its secondary star through a stellar wind at a low rate. TESS observations were made of MQ Dra in four sectors in Cycle 2 and show a short duration, high energy flare (similar to 10(35) erg) which has a profile characteristic of a flare from the M5V secondary star. This is one of the few occasions where an energetic flare has been seen from a Polar. We find no evidence that the flare caused a change in the light curve following the event and consider whether a coronal mass ejection was associated with the flare. We compare the frequency of energetic flares from the secondary star in MQ Dra with M dwarf stars and discuss the overall flare rate of stars with rotation periods shorter than 0.2 d and how such fast rotators can generate magnetic fields with low differential rotation rates.

Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 23:40