0 Assigned ID: 3123 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Fri Mar 25 03:42:09 GMT 2022) ----- HST Phase I Proposal 3123 successfully submitted. Receipt: # 3123-1 ----- Attempting Submission 2 (Fri Mar 25 16:32:04 GMT 2022) ----- These observations will be coordinated with ALMA, Chandra, Swift, and NICER so some additional discussion about scheduling will be required! 1960157493 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Fri Apr 08 22:57:29 GMT 2022) ----- The Origin and Impact of Flares in M Dwarf Systems M dwarf stars are the most abundant stars in the galaxy and have a high frequency of Earth-sized planets, making them the favored targets of upcoming missions to detect and characterize exoplanets. However, these stars are known to exhibit high levels of activity and flaring, which can deplete a planet's atmosphere of water and ozone over time, raising questions about the habitability of planets around these stars. It is clear that there is still much to be learned about M dwarfs, their activity, and the potential habitability of their planetary systems. Monitoring campaigns with simultaneous observations across a broad range of wavelengths are needed in order to determine how stellar flaring emission correlates across the electromagnetic spectrum. Here, we propose to conduct such a campaign using HST STIS for four nearby M dwarfs, spectral analogues of Proxima Cen spanning a range of ages and activity levels. We have already been awarded observing time with ALMA, Swift, NICER, and ground-based optical facilities that will be executed simultaneously between now and October 2022. These HST DDT observations are the only way to add FUV coverage to this campaign. Recent observations of Proxima Cen suggest that UV and millimeter emission trace each other closely during flares, and this proposed study will show whether this is a universal property of mid-M dwarfs regardless of age. By deriving a scaling relation between millimeter and UV emission, we will have a powerful new tool to determine the UV environment of stars and their potential to host habitable planets, and be able to capitalize on existing all-sky cosmology surveys at millimeter and radio wavelengths. Monitoring campaigns with simultaneous observations across a broad range of wavelengths are needed in order to determine how stellar flaring emission correlates across the electromagnetic spectrum. This new study will show whether the correlation between millimeter and UV emission is a universal property of mid-M dwarfs regardless of age and activity level. Wolf 359 is a well-known flare star (Robinson et al. 1995) that was the target of a recent campaign with Kepler/K2, Swift, LCOGT, and radio facilities spanning 20 MHz - 3.1 GHz. Using 1 min cadence, more than 800 flares were detected in 80 days (Quintana, priv. comm.). Compared to Proxima Cen, both stars have similar slopes of their flare frequency distributions, but Wolf 359 has significantly more flares at all energies. ALMA and Chandra time were also awarded for Wolf 359. The combination of the HST UV observations with simultaneous monitoring at millimeter, x-ray, and optical wavelengths will definitively show any correlations between flaring emission at these different wavelengths. By observing for 12 orbits, we should detect >7 large flares and many more small flares from Wolf 359 given its 2x higher flare rate than Proxima Cen. MAMA safety: We conservatively take the SIMBAD spectral type of M6 and U-band quiescent magnitude of 16.71. A 10^{-4} probability flare would produce a maximum U-band magnitude increase of -2.8 mag, yielding a peak U-band magnitude of 13.91. With these input values, we find peak line fluxes during a 10 ^{-4} probability flare of 3.1e-13 erg/s/cm^2 (C IV), 1.2e-13 (Si IV), and 3.1e-13 (Ly alpha). When these line fluxes and a 9000 K blackbody associated with the flaring U-band magnitude are run through the ETC, count rate limits for the STIS E140M spectrograph are not violated. Observing plan: HST STIS E140M grating (0.2 x 0.2 arcsec slit, covering 1150 - 1700 Ang), 3 visits of 4 orbits each Target acquisition in the STIS/CCD with the F28x50OII aperture at an exposure time of 10 sec. TIME-TAG mode. In order to effectively execute the proposed multi-wavelength program, our team consists of members who have extensive experience using a broad range of observational facilities. Dr. Meredith MacGregor (PI) is an expert at analyzing millimeter and radio wavelength data from young stars and their associated circumstellar disks. Dr. MacGregor discovered the first millimeter wavelength flare from Proxima Cen (MacGregor et al. 2018) and has continued to explore this new wavelength regime for stellar flares (MacGregor et al. 2020). Dr. MacGregor is the PI for the mutli-wavelength Proxima Cen monitoring campaign executed in April-July 2019 that includes an accepted Cycle 26 HST STIS (GO-15651) proposal for 44 orbits to obtain UV spectroscopy with STIS coordinated with ALMA, TESS, Swift, Chandra, and multiple ground-based optical facilities. The results from this campaign have just been published in MacGregor et al. (2021). Dr. MacGregor is also the PI for the already accepted ALMA program (2019.2.00141.S) to monitor the same four M dwarf stars at millimeter wavelengths that we are proposing to observe with HST here. Dr. Alycia Weinberger, Dr. David Wilner, Dr. Rachel Osten, Dr. Tara Murphy, Dr. Andrew Zic, and Kiana Burton (all co-Is) also have previous experience with millimeter and radio observations, and will be helping with the analysis and interpretation of ALMA and any other radio wavelength data. Kiana Burton is a graduate student working with Dr. MacGregor. Dr. Rachel Osten, Dr Alycia Weinberger, Dr. Evgenya Shkolink, Dr. Parke Loyd, Dr. Allison Youngblood, Dr. Ward Howard, Dr. Sebastian Pineda, Dr. Elisa Quintana, Dr. Tom Barclay, Dr. Jan Forbrich, Dr. Laura Vega, and Dr. Rishi Paudel (all co-Is) are all experienced UV and high energy observers who have studied stellar flares on low-mass stars. They will all contribute to analyzing the HST data, and interpreting how detected flares would affect the potential habitability of any planets in the system. Dr. Howard and Dr. Paudel are the PIs of the accepted Swift and NICER progeams, respectively. Dr. Osten has extensive previous experience with HST, and has led many multi-wavelength projects to monitor active stars. Dr. Weinberger has served as PI for multiple past HST programs, and has used STIS UV spectroscopy to study debris disk compositions. Dr. Shkolnik is the PI of the HAZMAT program that is using HST/COS to study the near and far-UV spectra of M dwarf stars over time. Dr. Loyd is the author of a recent paper to measure the flare flux distribution of Proxima Cen from archival STIS/E140M spectra. Dr. Youngblood has led multiple HST programs aimed at studying the UV emission of active stars and contributed significantly to the MUSCLES Treasury Survey. Dr. Pineda is the PI of the FUMES project (HST GO-14640) targeting the FUV emissions of active early M-dwarfs with STIS. Dr. Quintana and Dr. Barclay coordinated the previous multi-wavelength campaign for Wolf 359. Dr. Steven Cranmer (Co-I) is an expert in solar and stellar astrophysics, and will help to provide a theoretical understanding of flaring mechanisms given the observational results from this project along with Dr. Rachel Osten. The coordinated optical photometry and spectroscopy will be managed by multiple team members. Dr. Nicholas Law and Dr. Ward Howard will execute the Evryscope operations. Dr. Law is the PI for Evryscope. Dr. Matthews is the PI of MOST, and has considerable experience with optical monitoring campaigns. Dr. MacGregor, Dr. Howard, Dr. Pineda, and Dr. Cranmer will all work to coordinate observations taken with ground-based optical facilities through University of Colorado Boulder access. Stellar Physics and Stellar Types Exoplanets and Exoplanet Formation 0 false SUPPORTED STAR EMISSION LINE STAR IRREGULAR VARIABLE M V-IV Gaia EDR3 ICRS Ep=2016.0 coordinates pmra = pm(EDR3) / 15. / cos(dec) / 1000. GJ406 J2000 J2000 U=16.706 STIS/FUV-MAMA Spectroscopic No No E140M 1425 STIS/FUV-MAMA Spectroscopic No No E140M 1425 STIS/FUV-MAMA Spectroscopic No No E140M 1425 STIS/FUV-MAMA Spectroscopic No No E140M 1425 Phase windows are not calculated when the gap between schedulable intervals is less than 1 days, assuming no scheduling restrictions for constraint Phase 0.000/0.125. The scheduling data was generated by CASM 30.1. CASM was run in Phase II mode. UV spectra of Wolf 359 JD 2459700.493056 (May 1 at 23:10) is the approximate start of nightime observing at ALMA. See table below. The first 13 minuts of the first orbit are acquisitions, so orbit can start at 23:10 and have the spectra be taken after dark. sunset end of astro twilight airmass 1.5 airmass 2.0 04/26 22:11 23:23 03:47 05/08 22:03 23:18 03:00 05/22 21:55 23:14 02:04 06/03 21:54 23:14 02:15 *last day for 3 hours of dark above airmass 2 06/17 21:53 23:13 00:21 01:20 06/30 21:56 23:16 23:31 00:29 07/10 22:00 23:20 23:49 (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "01" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20211222" :date "08-Apr-2022 16:55:46.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 3 :saa-model "24" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1235472 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "01" :obset-id "01" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 393 :si-vis-utilization 2752 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 178 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 2 :pcs-time 392 :si-vis-utilization 2753 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 316 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 3 :pcs-time 392 :si-vis-utilization 2753 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 578 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) false 3 0 STIS ETC using F28x50LP, I=9.507 and Phoenix M dwarf Models M5.5 3000K gives S/N~258 in 0.3 s, saturates at 1.88 s ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. Phase windows are not calculated when the gap between schedulable intervals is less than 1 days, assuming no scheduling restrictions for constraint Phase 0.000/0.125. The scheduling data was generated by CASM 30.1. CASM was run in Phase II mode. UV spectra of Wolf 359 (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "02" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20211222" :date "08-Apr-2022 16:55:48.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 3 :saa-model "24" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1235472 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "02" :obset-id "02" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "02" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 393 :si-vis-utilization 2752 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 178 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "02" :orbit-number 2 :pcs-time 392 :si-vis-utilization 2753 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 316 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "02" :orbit-number 3 :pcs-time 392 :si-vis-utilization 2753 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 578 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) false 3 0 STIS ETC using F28x50LP, I=9.507 and Phoenix M dwarf Models M5.5 3000K gives S/N~258 in 0.3 s, saturates at 1.88 s ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. Phase windows are not calculated when the gap between schedulable intervals is less than 1 days, assuming no scheduling restrictions for constraint Phase 0.000/0.125. The scheduling data was generated by CASM 30.1. CASM was run in Phase II mode. UV spectra of Wolf 359 (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "03" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20211222" :date "08-Apr-2022 16:53:12.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 3 :saa-model "24" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1235472 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "03" :obset-id "03" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "03" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 393 :si-vis-utilization 2752 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 178 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "03" :orbit-number 2 :pcs-time 392 :si-vis-utilization 2753 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 316 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 16933 :visit-id "03" :orbit-number 3 :pcs-time 392 :si-vis-utilization 2753 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 578 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3145 :pcs-gap 0 ) false 3 0 STIS ETC using F28x50LP, I=9.507 and Phoenix M dwarf Models M5.5 3000K gives S/N~258 in 0.3 s, saturates at 1.88 s ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant. ETC says S/N=0 on continuum U-band, but that's not really relevant.