Discovery of flare activity on G141-29
Abstract
Photoelectric light curves of stellar flares on G141-29, a red dwarf of apparent visual magnitude of 12.9, are reported. G141-29 was photoelectrically observed with a computer-controlled photometer attached to the 2.1 m Struve reflector at McDonald Observatory. The flare monitoring was obtained through a U-filter with an integration time of one second. Three flares were detected during a total of 6.32 hours of monitoring on four successive nights in April 1980. The smallest flare had an amplitude of 12 times the standard deviation of the measurement noise, and the largest one more than a factor of 1000. Results show that 57 percent of the flux received in the U-filter during 6.32 hours of observation time was generated by flare activity, and the 4.8 magnitude flare made up for 85 percent of the flare energy detected. It is concluded that, based on available data, G141-29 is the most energy-productive flare star known.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- April 1981
- Bibcode:
- 1981A&A....97..199P
- Keywords:
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- Dwarf Stars;
- Flare Stars;
- Light Curve;
- Stellar Spectrophotometry;
- Electrophotometers;
- Astronomy