TY - JOUR
T1 - Predicting Lyα and Mg II fluxes from K and M dwarfs using galaxy evolution explorer ultraviolet photometry
AU - Shkolnik, Evgenya L.
AU - Rolph, Kristina A.
AU - Peacock, Sarah
AU - Barman, Travis S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/11/20
Y1 - 2014/11/20
N2 - A star's ultraviolet (UV) emission can greatly affect the atmospheric chemistry and physical properties of closely orbiting planets with the potential for severe mass loss. In particular, the Lyα emission line at 1216 A˚, which dominates the far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum, is a major source of photodissociation of important atmospheric molecules such as water and methane. The intrinsic flux of Lyα, however, cannot be directly measured due to the absorption of neutral hydrogen in the interstellar medium and contamination by geocoronal emission. To date, reconstruction of the intrinsic Lyα line based on Hubble Space Telescope spectra has been accomplished for 46 FGKM nearby stars, 28 of which have also been observed by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). Our investigation provides a correlation between published intrinsic Lyα and GALEX far- and near-ultraviolet (NUV) chromospheric fluxes for K and M stars. The negative correlations between the ratio of the Lyα to the GALEX fluxes reveal how the relative strength of Lyα compared to the broadband fluxes weakens as the FUV and NUV excess flux increase. We also correlate GALEX fluxes with the strong NUV Mg II h+k spectral emission lines formed at lower chromospheric temperatures than Lyα. The reported correlations provide estimates of intrinsic Lyα and Mg II fluxes for the thousands of K and M stars in the archived GALEX all-sky surveys. These will constrain new stellar upper atmosphere models for cool stars and provide realistic inputs to models describing exoplanetary photochemistry and atmospheric evolution in the absence of UV spectroscopy.
AB - A star's ultraviolet (UV) emission can greatly affect the atmospheric chemistry and physical properties of closely orbiting planets with the potential for severe mass loss. In particular, the Lyα emission line at 1216 A˚, which dominates the far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum, is a major source of photodissociation of important atmospheric molecules such as water and methane. The intrinsic flux of Lyα, however, cannot be directly measured due to the absorption of neutral hydrogen in the interstellar medium and contamination by geocoronal emission. To date, reconstruction of the intrinsic Lyα line based on Hubble Space Telescope spectra has been accomplished for 46 FGKM nearby stars, 28 of which have also been observed by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). Our investigation provides a correlation between published intrinsic Lyα and GALEX far- and near-ultraviolet (NUV) chromospheric fluxes for K and M stars. The negative correlations between the ratio of the Lyα to the GALEX fluxes reveal how the relative strength of Lyα compared to the broadband fluxes weakens as the FUV and NUV excess flux increase. We also correlate GALEX fluxes with the strong NUV Mg II h+k spectral emission lines formed at lower chromospheric temperatures than Lyα. The reported correlations provide estimates of intrinsic Lyα and Mg II fluxes for the thousands of K and M stars in the archived GALEX all-sky surveys. These will constrain new stellar upper atmosphere models for cool stars and provide realistic inputs to models describing exoplanetary photochemistry and atmospheric evolution in the absence of UV spectroscopy.
KW - planet-star interactions
KW - stars: activity
KW - stars: atmospheres
KW - stars: chromospheres
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U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/796/1/L20
DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/796/1/L20
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84909979675
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 796
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
M1 - L20
ER -