ARCSAT ID NUMBER: AS14

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE: Probing the Stellar Flare-Coronal Mass Ejection Relationship

PI: Michael Crosley

OBSERVER(S): Michael Crosley

UNCERTIFIED/UNTRAINED OBSERVERS: Michael Crosley

COLLABORATORS: Dr. Rachel Osten, Dr. Colin Norman, Dr. Suzanne Hawley

CONTACT INFORMATION: 	Michael Crosley: mcrosle1@jhu.edu, 609-902-6548
			Dr. Rachel Osten: osten@stsci.edu

TIME REQUESTED:	September 15 - 21
		September 22 - 28
		September 29 - October 5

INSTRUMENT: FlareCam

FILTERS: u-band

COMMENTS: The week of September 15-21 was chosen to optimize overlap
	with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) in the Netherlands and
	APO.  We have been awarded 12 hours of observation time at
	LOFAR during this week.  This will provide three hours of
	co-observing per night.  The weeks of September 22-28 and
	September 29-October 5 is to overlap with the Jansky Very
	Large Array’s Semester 2014B (September 19, 2014 –
	January 26, 2015).  Depending on the outcome of the JVLA
	proposal round, we might need these weeks reallocated to the
	next APO/ARCSAT quarter.

BRIEF SCIENCE JUSTIFICATION: Solar eruptive events show a fundamental
       association between flare-energy release and transient ejection
       of mass (Emslie et al. 2012). It has been more difficult to
       identify the stellar counterpart to coronal mass ejections
       (CMEs) using optical flare spectroscopy or characteristics of
       flares at shorter wavelengths, due to the inability to assign
       unambiguously the observed signature to the CME rather than the
       flare (Leitzinger et al. 2011).  Understanding the effect of
       stellar magnetic eruptions is important for a better
       understanding of how the solar analogy applies to stellar
       flaring events, as well as effect that stellar mass ejections
       (particularly from M dwarf star planet hosts) can have on
       planetary habitability.  However, there is a distinct marker
       for when a CME may have taken place, which occurs in the radio
       domain.  The radio signature of coronal mass ejections on the
       Sun is the so-called type II burst, which has a distinct
       signature of a slowly drifting radio burst, and can be used to
       place a firm limit on the rate of stellar CMEs. We concentrate
       on nearby, well-characterized M dwarfs. These have the
       advantage that their flaring rates are known (from numerous
       optical observations), and their coronal characteristics are
       well-known (for modeling of corona tailored to each star
       individually). A coordinated optical-radio flare campaign
       between APO and the Low Frequency Array, and APO and the Jansky
       Very Large Array, enable association of candidate stellar CME
       events with optical flares.  Properties of the optical flares
       will then be examined in conjunction with those of the CME.  We
       will Follow Eric J. Hilton’s (PhD Thesis, U. of Washington
       2011) Data Acquisition scheme (10s integration times for a
       minimum of two hours) as he has done extensive stellar flare
       work with the 0.5m at Apache Point Observatory.

REFERENCES:
Emslie, A.G et al. 2012 ApJ 759,71
Leitzinger, M. et al. 2011 A&A 536,62
Hilton, E.J, 2011 The Galactic M Dwarf Flare Rate 18,19