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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

Evolution of Stellar Activity and Habitable Zone. III. X-Ray Activity of Dwarfs in Open Clusters and Field Stars

  • Xue Li1
  • Song Wang2,3
  • Henggeng Han2
  • Jun Ma1
  • Yang Huang1,2
  • Jifeng Liu1,2
  1. 1University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
  2. 2Chinese Academy of Sciences
  3. 3Beijing Normal University
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Abstract

Stellar X-ray emission serves as a direct diagnostic of coronal activity, which is fundamentally linked to coronal heating processes. It also strongly influences the atmospheres and long-term habitability of orbiting exoplanets. Investigating how this high-energy emission evolves is therefore essential for understanding the evolution of stellar magnetic dynamos and planetary atmospheres and habitability. In this work, we investigate the evolution of X-ray activity and X-ray and UV (XUV) irradiation for a sample of F–M dwarf stars based on Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton Observatory observations. We find that F- and G-type stars broadly follow the traditional evolutionary picture of an early saturated (or weakly declining) phase followed by a modest decline, whereas K- and M-type stars exhibit a clear three-phase evolution of a saturated phase, an intermediate phase of rapid decay, and a final modest decline phase. By combining X-ray, UV, and Ca II H and K bands, we show that coronal emission becomes increasingly dominant toward lower-mass stars. Based on the cumulative XUV emission calculated from our fitted relation, planets around F- and G-type stars experience relatively moderate XUV environments, while those around K- and M-type stars may exceed the empirical cosmic shoreline shortly after reaching the main sequence, though this conclusion depends on the adopted shoreline value.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{li2026evolution,
  title = {{Evolution of Stellar Activity and Habitable Zone. III. X-Ray Activity of Dwarfs in Open Clusters and Field Stars}},
  author = {Xue Li and Song Wang and Henggeng Han and Jun Ma and Yang Huang and Jifeng Liu},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4365/aea077},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/aea077},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Evolution of Stellar Activity and Habitable Zone. III. X-Ray Activity of Dwarfs in Open Clusters and Field Stars
AU  - Xue Li
AU  - Song Wang
AU  - Henggeng Han
AU  - Jun Ma
AU  - Yang Huang
AU  - Jifeng Liu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4365/aea077
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/aea077
AB  - Stellar X-ray emission serves as a direct diagnostic of coronal activity, which is fundamentally linked to coronal heating processes. It also strongly influences the atmospheres and long-term habitability of orbiting exoplanets. Investigating how this high-energy emission evolves is therefore essential for understanding the evolution of stellar magnetic dynamos and planetary atmospheres and habitability. In this work, we investigate the evolution of X-ray activity and X-ray and UV (XUV) irradiation for a sample of F–M dwarf stars based on Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton Observatory observations. We find that F- and G-type stars broadly follow the traditional evolutionary picture of an early saturated (or weakly declining) phase followed by a modest decline, whereas K- and M-type stars exhibit a clear three-phase evolution of a saturated phase, an intermediate phase of rapid decay, and a final modest decline phase. By combining X-ray, UV, and Ca II H and K bands, we show that coronal emission becomes increasingly dominant toward lower-mass stars. Based on the cumulative XUV emission calculated from our fitted relation, planets around F- and G-type stars experience relatively moderate XUV environments, while those around K- and M-type stars may exceed the empirical cosmic shoreline shortly after reaching the main sequence, though this conclusion depends on the adopted shoreline value.
SN  - 0067-0049
SN  - 1538-4365
ER  -