Stellar X-Ray Variability and Planetary Evolution in the DS Tucanae System

Stellar X-Ray Variability and Planetary Evolution in the DS Tucanae System

We present an analysis of four Chandra observations of the 45 Myr old DS Tuc binary system. We observed X-ray variability of both stars on timescales from hours to months, including two strong X-ray flares from star A. The implied flaring rates are in agreement with past observations made with XMM-N...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: George W. King, Lía R. Corrales, Vincent Bourrier, Leonardo A. Dos Santos, Lauren Doyle, Baptiste Lavie, Gavin Ramsay, Peter J. Wheatley
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
Subjects:
X-ray astronomy
Stellar astronomy
Variable stars
Time domain astronomy
Exoplanets
Exoplanet astronomy
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada948
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Summary:We present an analysis of four Chandra observations of the 45 Myr old DS Tuc binary system. We observed X-ray variability of both stars on timescales from hours to months, including two strong X-ray flares from star A. The implied flaring rates are in agreement with past observations made with XMM-Newton, though these rates remain imprecise due to the relatively short total observation time. We find a clear, monotonic decline in the quiescent level of the star by a factor of 1.8 across 8 months, suggesting stellar variability that might be due to an activity cycle. If proven through future observations, DS Tuc A would be the youngest star for which a coronal activity cycle has been confirmed. The variation in our flux measurements across the four visits is also consistent with the scatter in empirical stellar X-ray relationships with Rossby number. In simulations of the possible evolution of the currently super-Neptune-sized planet DS Tuc A b, we find a range of scenarios for the planet once it reaches a typical field age of 5 Gyr, from Neptune size down to a completely stripped super-Earth. Improved constraints on the planet's mass in the future would significantly narrow these possibilities. We advocate for further Chandra observations to better constrain the variability of this important system.
ISSN:1538-4357

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