Systematic and Statistical Properties of Prominence Eruptions on the M-dwarf YZ CMi
Abstract
M-dwarfs produce frequent flares, and their associated mass ejections are expected to significantly affect the habitability of close-in exoplanets. Recent spectroscopic observations have revealed several prominence eruptions-indicative of stellar mass ejections-on M-dwarfs through Doppler shifts of the Hα line. However, systematic and statistical studies, particularly regarding their association with white-light flares, have been limited due to the lack of intensive and continuous simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of the same target star. We conducted one month of continuous spectroscopic observations of the active M-dwarf YZ CMi using the 3.8-m Seimei telescope with an unprecedentedly high time cadence of ∼1 min, simultaneously with TESS. We detected four prominence eruptions, among which two events showed rapid, short-duration eruptions with velocities of ∼300-500 km s−1 and durations of ∼5 min. Such short-duration events may have been missed in previous observations due to insufficient time cadence. We further performed a systematic analysis using 35 Hα flares on YZ CMi observed simultaneously with TESS. Notably, most prominence eruptions (6 out of 7) were not associated with detectable white-light flares. This result suggests that most observed prominence eruptions on M-dwarfs may have occurred near the stellar limb, where white-light flares are difficult to detect, which may imply a potential observational bias in their detectability due to low contrast with the background emission. These first statistical constraints, together with the discovery of rapid, short-duration prominence eruptions, indicate that previous observations may have underestimated both the frequency and velocities of mass ejections on M-dwarfs due to observational biases and highlight the necessity of reassessing their impact on close-in exoplanets.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{kajikiya2026systematic,
title = {{Systematic and Statistical Properties of Prominence Eruptions on the M-dwarf YZ CMi}},
author = {Yuto Kajikiya and Kosuke Namekata and Yuta Notsu and Kai Ikuta and Hiroyuki Maehara and Bunei Sato and Daisaku Nogami},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.30243},
eprint = {2608.30243},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.30243},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Systematic and Statistical Properties of Prominence Eruptions on the M-dwarf YZ CMi
AU - Yuto Kajikiya
AU - Kosuke Namekata
AU - Yuta Notsu
AU - Kai Ikuta
AU - Hiroyuki Maehara
AU - Bunei Sato
AU - Daisaku Nogami
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/03
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.30243
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.30243
AB - M-dwarfs produce frequent flares, and their associated mass ejections are expected to significantly affect the habitability of close-in exoplanets. Recent spectroscopic observations have revealed several prominence eruptions-indicative of stellar mass ejections-on M-dwarfs through Doppler shifts of the Hα line. However, systematic and statistical studies, particularly regarding their association with white-light flares, have been limited due to the lack of intensive and continuous simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of the same target star. We conducted one month of continuous spectroscopic observations of the active M-dwarf YZ CMi using the 3.8-m Seimei telescope with an unprecedentedly high time cadence of ∼1 min, simultaneously with TESS. We detected four prominence eruptions, among which two events showed rapid, short-duration eruptions with velocities of ∼300-500 km s^−1 and durations of ∼5 min. Such short-duration events may have been missed in previous observations due to insufficient time cadence. We further performed a systematic analysis using 35 Hα flares on YZ CMi observed simultaneously with TESS. Notably, most prominence eruptions (6 out of 7) were not associated with detectable white-light flares. This result suggests that most observed prominence eruptions on M-dwarfs may have occurred near the stellar limb, where white-light flares are difficult to detect, which may imply a potential observational bias in their detectability due to low contrast with the background emission. These first statistical constraints, together with the discovery of rapid, short-duration prominence eruptions, indicate that previous observations may have underestimated both the frequency and velocities of mass ejections on M-dwarfs due to observational biases and highlight the necessity of reassessing their impact on close-in exoplanets.
ER -