More Evidence for Variable Helium Absorption from HD 189733b

We present a new Keck/NIRSPEC observation of metastable helium absorption from the upper atmosphere of HD 189733b, a hot Jupiter orbiting a nearby moderately active star. We measure an average helium transit depth of $0.420 \pm 0.013$% integrated over the [-20, 20] km/s velocity range. Comparing this measurement to eight previously published transit observations with different instruments, we find that our depth is 32% (9$\sigma$) lower than the average of the three CARMENES transits, but only 16% (4.4$\sigma$) lower than the average of the five GIANO transits. We perform 1D hydrodynamical simulations of the outflow, and find that XUV variability on the order of 33%--common for this star--can change the helium absorption depth by 60%. We conclude that changes in stellar XUV flux can explain the observational variability in helium absorption. 3D models are necessary to explore other sources of variability, such as shear instability and changing stellar wind conditions.Comment: Published by A

The Elusive Majority of Young Moving Groups. I. Young Binaries and Lithium-rich Stars in the Solar Neighborhood

Young stars in the solar neighborhood serve as nearby probes of stellar evolution and represent promising targets to directly image self-luminous giant planets. We have carried out an all-sky search for late-type (≈K7-M5) stars within 100 pc selected primarily on the basis of activity indicators from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer and ROSAT. Approximately 2000 active and potentially young stars are identified, of which we have followed up over 600 with low-resolution optical spectroscopy and over 1000 with diffraction-limited imaging using Robo-AO at the Palomar 1.5 m telescope. Strong lithium is present in 58 stars, implying ages spanning ≈10-200 Myr. Most of these lithium-rich stars are new or previously known members of young moving groups including TWA, β Pic, Tuc-Hor, Carina, Columba, Argus, AB Dor, Upper Centaurus Lupus, and Lower Centaurus Crux; the rest appear to be young low-mass stars without connections to established kinematic groups. Over 200 close binaries are identified down to 0.″2 - the vast majority of which are new - and will be valuable for dynamical mass measurements of young stars with continued orbit monitoring in the future

The First Naked-eye Superflare Detected from Proxima Centauri

Proxima b is a terrestrial-mass planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri's high stellar activity, however, casts doubt on the habitability of Proxima b: sufficiently bright and frequent flares and any associated proton events may destroy the planet's ozone layer, allowing lethal levels of UV flux to reach its surface. In 2016 March, the Evryscope observed the first naked-eye-brightness superflare detected from Proxima Centauri. Proxima increased in optical flux by a factor of ∼68 during the superflare and released a bolometric energy of 1033.5 erg, ∼10× larger than any previously detected flare from Proxima. Over the last two years the Evryscope has recorded 23 other large Proxima flares ranging in bolometric energy from 1030.6 to 1032.4 erg; coupling those rates with the single superflare detection, we predict that at least five superflares occur each year. Simultaneous high-resolution High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectroscopy during the Evryscope superflare constrains the superflare's UV spectrum and any associated coronal mass ejections. We use these results and the Evryscope flare rates to model the photochemical effects of NOx atmospheric species generated by particle events from this extreme stellar activity, and show that the repeated flaring may be sufficient to reduce the ozone of an Earth-like atmosphere by 90% within five years; complete depletion may occur within several hundred kyr. The UV light produced by the Evryscope superflare would therefore have reached the surface with ∼100× the intensity required to kill simple UV-hardy microorganisms, suggesting that life would have to undergo extreme adaptations to survive in the surface areas of Proxima b exposed to these flares

Accurate Modeling of Ly α Profiles and Their Impact on Photolysis of Terrestrial Planet Atmospheres

Accurately measuring and modeling the Lyα (Lyα; λ1215.67 Å) emission line from low-mass stars is vital for our ability to build predictive high energy stellar spectra, yet interstellar medium (ISM) absorption of this line typically prevents model-measurement comparisons. Lyα also controls the photodissociation of important molecules, like water and methane, in exoplanet atmospheres such that any photochemical models assessing potential biosignatures or atmospheric abundances require accurate Lyα host star flux estimates. Recent observations of three early M and K stars (K3, M0, M1) with exceptionally high radial velocities (>100 km s-1) reveal the intrinsic profiles of these types of stars as most of their Lyα flux is shifted away from the geocoronal line core and contamination from the ISM. These observations indicate that previous stellar spectra computed with the PHOENIX atmosphere code have underpredicted the core of Lyα in these types of stars. With these observations, we have been able to better understand the microphysics in the upper atmosphere and improve the predictive capabilities of the PHOENIX atmosphere code. Since these wavelengths drive the photolysis of key molecular species, we also present results analyzing the impact of the resulting changes to the synthetic stellar spectra on observable chemistry in terrestrial planet atmospheres. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

HAZMAT. VII. The evolution of ultraviolet emission with age and rotation for early M Dwarf Stars

The ultraviolet (UV) emission from the most numerous stars in the universe, M dwarfs, impacts the formation, chemistry, atmospheric stability, and surface habitability of their planets. We have analyzed the spectral evolution of UV emission from M0-M2.5 (0.3-0.6M⊙) stars as a function of age, rotation, and Rossby number using Hubble Space Telescope observations of Tucana-Horologium (40 Myr), Hyades (650 Myr), and field (2-9 Gyr) objects. The quiescent surface flux of their C II, C III, C IV, He II, N V, Si III, and Si IV emission lines, formed in the stellar transition region, remains elevated at a constant level for 240 ± 30 Myr before declining by 2.1 orders of magnitude to an age of 10 Gyr. The Mg II and far-UV pseudocontinuum emission, formed in the stellar chromosphere, exhibits more gradual evolution with age, declining by 1.3 and 1.7 orders of magnitude, respectively. The youngest stars exhibit a scatter of 0.1 dex in far-UV line and pseudocontinuum flux attributable only to rotational modulation, long-term activity cycles, or an unknown source of variability. Saturation-decay fits to these data can predict an M0-M2.5 star's quiescent emission in UV lines and the far-UV pseudocontinuum with an accuracy of 0.2-0.3 dex, the most accurate means presently available. Predictions of UV emission will be useful for studying exoplanetary atmospheric evolution and the destruction and abiotic production of biologically relevant molecules and interpreting infrared and optical planetary spectra measured with observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.Immediate accessThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

HAZMAT. VIII. A Spectroscopic Analysis of the Ultraviolet Evolution of K Stars: Additional Evidence for K Dwarf Rotational Stalling in the First Gigayear

Efforts to discover and characterize habitable zone planets have primarily focused on Sun-like stars and M dwarfs. K stars, however, provide an appealing compromise between these two alternatives that has been relatively unexplored. Understanding the ultraviolet (UV) environment around such stars is critical to our understanding of their planets, as the UV can drastically alter the photochemistry of a planet's atmosphere. Here we present near-UV and far-UV Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph observations of 39 K stars at three distinct ages: 40 Myr, 650 Myr, and ≈5 Gyr. We find that the K star (0.6-0.8 M ⊙) UV flux remains constant beyond 650 Myr before falling off by an order of magnitude by field age. This is distinct from early M stars (0.3-0.6 M ⊙), which begin to decline after only a few hundred megayears. However, the rotation-UV activity relation for K stars is nearly identical to that of early M stars. These results may be a consequence of the spin-down stalling effect recently reported for K dwarfs, in which the spin-down of K stars halts for over a gigayear when their rotation periods reach ≈10 days, rather than the continuous spin-down that G stars experience. These results imply that exoplanets orbiting K dwarfs may experience a stronger UV environment than thought, weakening the case for K stars as hosts of potential "super-habitable"planets. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Onboard dynamic image exposure control for the Star–Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS)

The Star–Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS) is a 6U CubeSat under development to monitor the flaring and chromospheric activity of M dwarfs at near-ultraviolet (NUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) wavelengths. The spacecraft hosts two UV-optimized delta-doped charge-coupled devices fed by a 9-cm telescope and a dichroic beam splitter. A dedicated science payload processor performs near-real-time onboard science image processing to dynamically change detector integration times and gains to reduce the occurrence of pixel saturation during strong M dwarf flaring events and provide adequate flare light-curve structure resolution while enabling the detection of low-amplitude rotational modulation. The processor independently controls the NUV and FUV detectors. For each detector, it derives control updates from the most recent completed exposure and applies them to the next exposure. The detection of a flare event in the NUV channel resets the exposure in the FUV channel with new exposure parameters. Implementation testing of the control algorithm using simulated light curves and full-frame images demonstrates a robust response to the quiescent and flaring levels expected for the stars to be monitored by the mission. The SPARCS onboard autonomous exposure control algorithm is adaptable for operation in future point source-targeting space-based and ground-based observatories geared towards the monitoring of extreme transient astrophysics phenomena. © 2021 The Author(s)Immediate accessThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

SPARCS payload assembly, integration, and test update

The Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS) is a 6U CubeSat under construction that is devoted to the photometric monitoring of M stars in the far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV), to measure the time-dependent spectral slope, intensity and evolution of low-mass star high-energy radiation. We report on the progress made in the assembly, integration and test of the instrument payload at Arizona State University using a custom TVAC chamber and optical stimulus that provides calibration light sources and the custom contamination control environment that the FUV demands. The payload consists of a custom 90mm clear aperture telescope developed by Hexagon/Sigma Space, combined with a dichroic plate to separate the FUV and NUV beams developed by Teledyne Acton and Materion, married with twin focal plane array cameras separately optimized for their bandpasses as developed by JPL. © 2020 SPIEImmediate accessThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Consensus of Russian experts on the evaluation of arterial stiffness in clinical practice [Согласованное мнение российских экспертов по оценке артериальной жесткости в клинической практике]

Recently, there was plenty studies published on the arterial stiffness assessment, and importance of this was proved as an independent prediction parameter, together with standard cardiovascular risk factors. In current document, we collect and structure the available clinical and scientific data from abroad and Russian studies. The aim of current publication is the need to bring a reader the importance of demanded in clinical practice ways of arterial wall stiffness assessment, information about conditions when it is important to the assessment, and available restrictions, as the issues remaining unresolved. © 2016 Vserossiiskoe Obshchestvo Kardiologov. All rights reserved