Stellar Flare Dynamics from High-Resolution X-rays: Planning for the International X-Ray Observatory

Details Stellar Flare Dynamics from High-Resolution X-rays: Planning for the International X-Ray Observatory Stellar Flare Dynamics from High-Resolution X-rays: Planning for the International X-Ray Observatory

Jan 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21345416h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #454.16; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.353

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Stellar flares on cool stars are a ubiquitous phenomenon in the X-ray spectral region. This most dynamic aspect of coronal activity is possibly a primary source of coronal heating. On the Sun, flares are known to be a manifestation of the reconnection of magnetic loops, accompanied by particle beams, chromospheric evaporation, rapid bulk flows or mass ejection, and heating of plasma confined in loops. Modeling the dynamic behavior allows us to constrain loop properties in ways that cannot be done from analysis of quiescent coronae that necessarily require a spatial and temporal average over some ensemble of structures. Hard X-rays (7-20 keV) cause Fe K fluorescence, whose presence and time profile can also be a powerful diagnostic of flare loop properties.
The recent merger of the US and European/Japanese planned X-ray observatories into the International X-Ray Observatory (IXO) promises unprecedented advances in effective area and resolution for X-ray spectroscopy. While detailed requirements and instrument designs are still being formulated, we believe that it is technically feasible to obtain resolutions (E/FWHM) of 3000-5000 with effective areas up to 10,000 cm^2 over the spectral range of 0.3-6.0 keV with a grating instrument in conjunction with the imaging detector for zeroth order. A hard X-ray (10-50 keV) camera is also being considered for IXO. We will adopt model instruments, including a grating spectrometer, and perform simulations to explore opportunities IXO might offer for studying high-energy dynamics in the outer atmospheres of stars. In particular, we will explore the ability to obtain time-resolved spectral diagnostics from flares of cool, coronally active stars. We expect IXO to obtain both quantitative improvements (more sources, better sensitivity) and qualitative advances (new constraints on hydrodynamic models).
This work was supported by SAO contract SV3-73016 to MIT/CXC under NASA contract NAS8-03060 to SAO.

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