[ITAL]Chandra[/ITAL] Detection of an X-Ray Flare from the Brown Dwarf LP 944-20
Open Access
- 1 August 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Astronomical Society in The Astrophysical Journal
- Vol. 538 (2), L141-L144
- https://doi.org/10.1086/312817
Abstract
We have detected a bright X-ray flare from the nearby (d = 5.0 pc) brown dwarf LP 944-20 with the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer-S. This is an old (500 Myr), rapidly rotating, lithium-bearing M9 object, with a bolometric luminosity of ≈6 × 1029 ergs s-1. It was detected only by Chandra during an X-ray flare of duration 1-2 hr near the end of a 12.1 hr observation. The peak X-ray luminosity was 1.2 × 1026 ergs s-1 in the brightest ≈550 s, corresponding to LX/Lbol ≈ 2 × 10-4. A total of 2 × 1029 ergs was released during the 43,773 s observation, giving a time-averaged LX/Lbol ≈ 7 × 10-6. LP 944-20 was not detected before the flare, with a 3 σ upper limit on the emission at LX/Lbol < 2 × 10-6 (LX < 1 × 1024 ergs s-1). This is faint for a rapidly rotating late-type star and establishes a record lower limit to the quiescent flux about an order of magnitude below the flux limit (and a factor of 5 below the LX/Lbol limit) placed on quiescent X-ray emission from the M8 dwarf VB 10. The inferred flaring duty cycle is comparable to that measured via variable Hα emission for other late M-type, fully convective stars.Keywords
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