White-light continuum in solar and stellar flares
Abstract
During solar and stellar flares, the majority of the radiated energy from the lower atmosphere escapes as white-light continuum emission in the near-ultraviolet and optical wavelength regimes. The time-dependent spectral energy distribution of white-light emission is important for assessing biomarkers in planetary atmospheres around M dwarfs and for constraining models of heating at the highest densities in flares. I will discuss the observational characteristics of white-light emission from recent spectroscopic observations of M dwarf flares, and I will describe a new interpretation of these spectra as revealed in a radiative-hydrodynamic model of an extreme chromospheric condensation. I will give an overview of the properties of white-light emission in solar flares and the new information obtained for the brightest solar flare kernels observed with IRIS.
- Publication:
-
IAU General Assembly
- Pub Date:
- August 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015IAUGA..2257997K