Open AccessProperties of serendipitous X‐ray flares discovered in XMM–Newton observations
Author(s) -
Trenholme Duncan,
Ramsay Gavin,
Foley Carl
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08388.x
Subject(s) - physics , flare , astrophysics , stars , luminosity , event (particle physics) , light curve , astronomy , young stellar object , galaxy , star formation
We present the results of a search of the XMM–Newton public data archive for stellar X‐ray flares. We find eight flaring sources for which we identify seven optical counterparts. Three of these sources have distance estimates which allow us to determine their luminosities. Based on the decay time of the flares and their luminosity, we derive loop half‐lengths of ∼2–7 × 10 10 cm and emission measures of ∼10 54 cm −3 ; these are similar to values derived for other stellar flaring sources. One of the stars shows two flares in close succession. We discuss the likelihood of this double event being either sympathetic or homologous in nature. A comparison to a pair of similar flares on the Sun suggests that homology is the more likely process driving the flare event.