Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,234 studies31 sourcesUpdated 37 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal

Detection of Fine-structured Radio Bursts during a Superflare on EQ Peg

  • Zhanhao Zhao1
  • Xin Cheng1
  • Yuankun Kou1
  • Guoyin Chen1
  • Hao Ning2
  • Yao Chen2
  • Baolin Tan3,4
  • Keping Qiu1
  • Mingde Ding1
4 affiliations
  1. 1Nanjing University
  2. 2Shandong University
  3. 3Chinese Academy of Sciences
  4. 4University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Superflares are frequently observed on magnetically active stars, particularly on active M dwarfs, thereby influencing the habitability of nearby exoplanets. However, the causes of superflares remain unclear. Here, combining FAST and TESS, we detected a finely structured decimetric radio burst appearing as groups of spikes during a white-light superflare (total bolometric energy ∼ 10 ³³ erg) on the M dwarf binary EQ Peg on 2022 September 8. The most significant ones appeared near the peak time of the optical flare and lasted for about 100 s. The radio spikes present extremely high brightness temperatures (≳10 ¹³ K) and high degrees of circular polarization (∼0.84 ± 0.16), indicating their origin in a coherent emission process, most likely the electron cyclotron maser. Based on Zeeman Doppler imaging measurements of EQ Peg, we further locate the sources of the radio spikes, including their heights and latitudes, under the assumption of a large-scale dipolar magnetic field configuration. The results provide strong evidence for finely structured decimetric radio bursts generated by stellar flares and shed light on the origin of superflares.

Related

  1. Catalog of Solar Radio Bursts Detected by the LOFAR LV614 Station at the Irbene Observatory during Solar Cycle 25
    Jānis Šteinbergs, Dmitrii Kolotkov, Valery M. Nakariakov +3
    The Astrophysical Journal Supplement SeriesPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textSolar & stellar physicsCrossref
  2. Offline vs Real-Time Validation and Performance Assessment of Heimdall Detection Pipeline for Fast Radio Bursts
    Valentina Cesare, Giovanni Naldi, Francesco Fiori +4
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textInstrumentation & methodsarXiv
  3. Catalogue of Solar Radio Bursts Detected by the LOFAR LV614 Station at the Irbene Observatory during Solar Cycle 25
    Jānis Šteinbergs, Dmitrii Kolotkov, Valery M. Nakariakov +3
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textSolar & stellar physicsarXiv
  4. Interpretation of fast radio bursts from CHIME/FRB baseband data
    Wen-Qi Ma, Zhi-Fu Gao, Xiang-Han Cui +3
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsHigh-energy astrophysicsCrossref
  5. Evidence for Enhancement in the Rate of Fast Radio Bursts Toward Galaxy Clusters
    Mawson W Sammons, Airene Ahuja, Matt Dobbs +25
    HALPreprintLicence not statedGeneral astronomyGeneral physicsHAL

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{zhao2026detection,
  title = {{Detection of Fine-structured Radio Bursts during a Superflare on EQ Peg}},
  author = {Zhanhao Zhao and Xin Cheng and Yuankun Kou and Guoyin Chen and Hao Ning and Yao Chen and Baolin Tan and Keping Qiu and Mingde Ding},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aeb003},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeb003},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Detection of Fine-structured Radio Bursts during a Superflare on EQ Peg
AU  - Zhanhao Zhao
AU  - Xin Cheng
AU  - Yuankun Kou
AU  - Guoyin Chen
AU  - Hao Ning
AU  - Yao Chen
AU  - Baolin Tan
AU  - Keping Qiu
AU  - Mingde Ding
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/aeb003
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeb003
AB  - Superflares are frequently observed on magnetically active stars, particularly on active M dwarfs, thereby influencing the habitability of nearby exoplanets. However, the causes of superflares remain unclear. Here, combining FAST and TESS, we detected a finely structured decimetric radio burst appearing as groups of spikes during a white-light superflare (total bolometric energy ∼ 10 ³³ erg) on the M dwarf binary EQ Peg on 2022 September 8. The most significant ones appeared near the peak time of the optical flare and lasted for about 100 s. The radio spikes present extremely high brightness temperatures (≳10 ¹³ K) and high degrees of circular polarization (∼0.84 ± 0.16), indicating their origin in a coherent emission process, most likely the electron cyclotron maser. Based on Zeeman Doppler imaging measurements of EQ Peg, we further locate the sources of the radio spikes, including their heights and latitudes, under the assumption of a large-scale dipolar magnetic field configuration. The results provide strong evidence for finely structured decimetric radio bursts generated by stellar flares and shed light on the origin of superflares.
SN  - 1538-4357
SN  - 0004-637X
ER  -