The first observed stellar X-ray flare oscillation: Constraints on the flare loop length and the magnetic field

Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK e-mail: umk@mssl.ucl.ac.uk

Received: 7 February 2005
Accepted: 12 March 2005

Abstract

We present the first X-ray observation of an oscillation during a stellar flare. The flare occurred on the active M-type dwarf AT Mic and was observed with XMM-Newton. The soft X-ray light curve (0.2–12 keV) is investigated with wavelet analysis. The flare's extended, flat peak shows clear evidence for a damped oscillation with a period of around 750 s, an exponential damping time of around 2000 s, and an initial, relative peak-to-peak amplitude of around 15%. We suggest that the oscillation is a standing magneto-acoustic wave tied to the flare loop, and find that the most likely interpretation is a longitudinal, slow-mode wave, with a resulting loop length of cm. The local magnetic field strength is found to be 105 ± 50 G. These values are consistent with (oscillation-independent) flare cooling time models and pressure balance scaling laws. Such a flare oscillation provides an excellent opportunity to obtain coronal properties like the size of a flare loop or the local magnetic field strength for the otherwise spatially-unresolved star.