Chandra-JWST Probing the Effects of Moderate X-Ray Superflares on Protoplanetary Disks
Abstract
Powerful X-ray flares from young stars may rapidly alter the physical and chemical conditions of their planet-forming disks, but direct observational tests remain scarce. We present a Chandra-JWST/NIRSpec study of infrared spectral variability associated with pre-main-sequence (PMS) X-ray flares in the Orion Nebula. Combining six Chandra/ACIS-I observations with three NIRSpec-MOS visits, we analyze two-epoch spectra of 10 X-ray Flare stars and 12 matched non-flaring Controls among 84 observed disk-bearing PMS stars. We investigate three diagnostics: narrow 2.8-4.3 micron features, HI Br-alpha, and the CO fundamental band. Flare stars show tentative evidence for relatively fewer variable narrow features at longer wavelengths than Controls, while feature incidence decreases strongly with projected distance from the dominant ionizing O star Theta1 Ori C. Most classifiable features appear in absorption. These properties suggest that at least some features may arise in externally irradiated disk atmospheres and/or associated photoevaporative flows, with their apparent epoch-to-epoch variability potentially reflecting spatial sampling of such locally structured material rather than intrinsic temporal changes. Br-alpha behaves differently: flare stars show systematically stronger variability and uniquely exhibit absorption-core profiles, suggesting control by magnetospheric accretion and stellar magnetic processes rather than disk irradiation. The CO fundamental band shows no significant flare-associated variability, consistent with thermochemical models predicting weak responses to moderate X-ray superflares. This pilot study demonstrates the potential of coordinated Chandra-JWST observations to probe how young stellar magnetic activity affects planet-forming environments, motivating future monitoring to build larger superflare samples and extend them into the rare X-ray mega-flare regime.
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BibTeX
@misc{getman2026chandrajwst,
title = {{Chandra-JWST Probing the Effects of Moderate X-Ray Superflares on Protoplanetary Disks}},
author = {Konstantin V. Getman and Kevin L. Luhman and Bayron Portilla-Revelo and Christian Rab and Valentin Brunn and Eric D. Feigelson and Arjan Bik and Jan Forbrich and Jenny Frediani and Thomas J. Haworth and Charles J. Law and Marco Padovani and Maria Claudia Ramirez-Tannus and Andrew J. Winter and Vladimir S. Airapetian and L. Ilsedore Cleeves and Sergio A. Dzib and Michael A. Kuhn and Abygail R. Waggoner and Rens Waters},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.19228},
eprint = {2610.19228},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19228},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Chandra-JWST Probing the Effects of Moderate X-Ray Superflares on Protoplanetary Disks
AU - Konstantin V. Getman
AU - Kevin L. Luhman
AU - Bayron Portilla-Revelo
AU - Christian Rab
AU - Valentin Brunn
AU - Eric D. Feigelson
AU - Arjan Bik
AU - Jan Forbrich
AU - Jenny Frediani
AU - Thomas J. Haworth
AU - Charles J. Law
AU - Marco Padovani
AU - Maria Claudia Ramirez-Tannus
AU - Andrew J. Winter
AU - Vladimir S. Airapetian
AU - L. Ilsedore Cleeves
AU - Sergio A. Dzib
AU - Michael A. Kuhn
AU - Abygail R. Waggoner
AU - Rens Waters
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.19228
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19228
AB - Powerful X-ray flares from young stars may rapidly alter the physical and chemical conditions of their planet-forming disks, but direct observational tests remain scarce. We present a Chandra-JWST/NIRSpec study of infrared spectral variability associated with pre-main-sequence (PMS) X-ray flares in the Orion Nebula. Combining six Chandra/ACIS-I observations with three NIRSpec-MOS visits, we analyze two-epoch spectra of 10 X-ray Flare stars and 12 matched non-flaring Controls among 84 observed disk-bearing PMS stars. We investigate three diagnostics: narrow 2.8-4.3 micron features, HI Br-alpha, and the CO fundamental band. Flare stars show tentative evidence for relatively fewer variable narrow features at longer wavelengths than Controls, while feature incidence decreases strongly with projected distance from the dominant ionizing O star Theta1 Ori C. Most classifiable features appear in absorption. These properties suggest that at least some features may arise in externally irradiated disk atmospheres and/or associated photoevaporative flows, with their apparent epoch-to-epoch variability potentially reflecting spatial sampling of such locally structured material rather than intrinsic temporal changes. Br-alpha behaves differently: flare stars show systematically stronger variability and uniquely exhibit absorption-core profiles, suggesting control by magnetospheric accretion and stellar magnetic processes rather than disk irradiation. The CO fundamental band shows no significant flare-associated variability, consistent with thermochemical models predicting weak responses to moderate X-ray superflares. This pilot study demonstrates the potential of coordinated Chandra-JWST observations to probe how young stellar magnetic activity affects planet-forming environments, motivating future monitoring to build larger superflare samples and extend them into the rare X-ray mega-flare regime.
ER -