A Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr

The extreme-ultraviolet (EUV; 100–911 Å) spectra of F, G, K, and M stars provide diagnostics of the stellar chromosphere through the corona, with line and continuum formation temperatures spanning roughly 10 ^4 –10 ^7 K. The EUV stellar spectrum in turn drives atmospheric photochemistry and numerous...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kevin France, Girish Duvvuri, Cynthia S. Froning, Alexander Brown, P. Christian Schneider, J. Sebastian Pineda, David Wilson, Allison Youngblood, Vladimir S. Airapetian, Kosuke Namekata, Yuta Notsu, Tristen Sextro
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astronomical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adefdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849769891295395840
author Kevin France
Girish Duvvuri
Cynthia S. Froning
Alexander Brown
P. Christian Schneider
J. Sebastian Pineda
David Wilson
Allison Youngblood
Vladimir S. Airapetian
Kosuke Namekata
Yuta Notsu
Tristen Sextro
author_facet Kevin France
Girish Duvvuri
Cynthia S. Froning
Alexander Brown
P. Christian Schneider
J. Sebastian Pineda
David Wilson
Allison Youngblood
Vladimir S. Airapetian
Kosuke Namekata
Yuta Notsu
Tristen Sextro
author_sort Kevin France
collection DOAJ
description The extreme-ultraviolet (EUV; 100–911 Å) spectra of F, G, K, and M stars provide diagnostics of the stellar chromosphere through the corona, with line and continuum formation temperatures spanning roughly 10 ^4 –10 ^7 K. The EUV stellar spectrum in turn drives atmospheric photochemistry and numerous escape processes on orbiting planets, and is often combined with the stellar X-ray flux to make up the X-ray and ultraviolet (XUV) irradiance. However, very few direct EUV spectra of other stars exist in the archive, and as a result, X-ray scaling relations are often assumed for the XUV evolution of cool stars. In this work, we present a new study of the EUV history of solar-type stars, using scaling relations based on transition region/coronal far-ultraviolet emission lines and differential emission measure-based synthetic spectra to provide a semiempirical estimate of the EUV evolution of the Sun over the ≈10 Myr–10 Gyr age range for the first time. We utilize new and archival Hubble Space Telescope observations of solar analogs ( T _⊙ ± 150 K for stars older than 100 Myr) and “Young Suns” (age < 100 Myr) that will evolve into main-sequence early G-type stars to predict the 90–360 Å EUV flux from a sample of 23 stars. We find that the EUV activity evolution for solar-type stars follows a two-component behavior: a saturated L (EUV)/ L _bol plateau (at a level of about 10 ^−4 ) followed by a power-law decay ( α ≈ −1.1) after ages of ≈50–100 Myr. Consequently, the EUV flux incident at 1 au around solar analogs varies over the lifetime of the Sun, ranging from 100× the present-day UV irradiance at 10 Myr to 0.3× the present-day level at 10 Gyr. We find that the EUV luminosity is approximately the same as the soft X-ray luminosity up to approximately 1 Gyr, after which the EUV luminosity of the stars dominates. In comparison to Sun-like stars, the EUV saturation level of early/mid M dwarfs is several times higher and lasts ∼10–20 times longer.
format Article
id doaj-art-d8fa446118bf474ba873d04fe6ebf115
institution DOAJ
issn 1538-3881
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IOP Publishing
record_format Article
series The Astronomical Journal
spelling doaj-art-d8fa446118bf474ba873d04fe6ebf1152025-08-20T03:03:15ZengIOP PublishingThe Astronomical Journal1538-38812025-01-01170315910.3847/1538-3881/adefdfA Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 GyrKevin France0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1002-3674Girish Duvvuri1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7119-2543Cynthia S. Froning2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8499-2892Alexander Brown3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2631-3905P. Christian Schneider4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5094-2245J. Sebastian Pineda5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4489-0135David Wilson6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9667-9449Allison Youngblood7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1176-3391Vladimir S. Airapetian8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4452-0588Kosuke Namekata9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1297-9485Yuta Notsu10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0412-0849Tristen Sextro11https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0318-3385Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; kevin.france@colorado.edu; Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USA; Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University , Nashville, TN 37235, USASouthwest Research Institute , San Antonio, TX 78238, USACenter for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USAChristian-Albrechts University , Leibnizstraße 15, 24118 Kiel, GermanyLaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; kevin.france@colorado.eduLaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; kevin.france@colorado.eduExoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USANASA GSFC/SEEC , Greenbelt, MD, USA; Department of Physics, American University , Washington, DC, USAHeliophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; The Catholic University of America , 620 Michigan Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20064, USA; The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University , Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; Department of Physics, Kyoto University , Kitashirakawa-Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, JapanLaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; kevin.france@colorado.edu; Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USA; National Solar Observatory , Boulder, CO 80309, USADepartment of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USAThe extreme-ultraviolet (EUV; 100–911 Å) spectra of F, G, K, and M stars provide diagnostics of the stellar chromosphere through the corona, with line and continuum formation temperatures spanning roughly 10 ^4 –10 ^7 K. The EUV stellar spectrum in turn drives atmospheric photochemistry and numerous escape processes on orbiting planets, and is often combined with the stellar X-ray flux to make up the X-ray and ultraviolet (XUV) irradiance. However, very few direct EUV spectra of other stars exist in the archive, and as a result, X-ray scaling relations are often assumed for the XUV evolution of cool stars. In this work, we present a new study of the EUV history of solar-type stars, using scaling relations based on transition region/coronal far-ultraviolet emission lines and differential emission measure-based synthetic spectra to provide a semiempirical estimate of the EUV evolution of the Sun over the ≈10 Myr–10 Gyr age range for the first time. We utilize new and archival Hubble Space Telescope observations of solar analogs ( T _⊙ ± 150 K for stars older than 100 Myr) and “Young Suns” (age < 100 Myr) that will evolve into main-sequence early G-type stars to predict the 90–360 Å EUV flux from a sample of 23 stars. We find that the EUV activity evolution for solar-type stars follows a two-component behavior: a saturated L (EUV)/ L _bol plateau (at a level of about 10 ^−4 ) followed by a power-law decay ( α ≈ −1.1) after ages of ≈50–100 Myr. Consequently, the EUV flux incident at 1 au around solar analogs varies over the lifetime of the Sun, ranging from 100× the present-day UV irradiance at 10 Myr to 0.3× the present-day level at 10 Gyr. We find that the EUV luminosity is approximately the same as the soft X-ray luminosity up to approximately 1 Gyr, after which the EUV luminosity of the stars dominates. In comparison to Sun-like stars, the EUV saturation level of early/mid M dwarfs is several times higher and lasts ∼10–20 times longer.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adefdfSolar extreme ultraviolet emissionStellar activityExoplanet atmospheres
spellingShingle Kevin France
Girish Duvvuri
Cynthia S. Froning
Alexander Brown
P. Christian Schneider
J. Sebastian Pineda
David Wilson
Allison Youngblood
Vladimir S. Airapetian
Kosuke Namekata
Yuta Notsu
Tristen Sextro
A Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr
The Astronomical Journal
Solar extreme ultraviolet emission
Stellar activity
Exoplanet atmospheres
title A Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr
title_full A Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr
title_fullStr A Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr
title_full_unstemmed A Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr
title_short A Semiempirical Estimate of Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr
title_sort semiempirical estimate of solar extreme ultraviolet evolution from 10 myr to 10 gyr
topic Solar extreme ultraviolet emission
Stellar activity
Exoplanet atmospheres
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adefdf
work_keys_str_mv AT kevinfrance asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT girishduvvuri asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT cynthiasfroning asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT alexanderbrown asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT pchristianschneider asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT jsebastianpineda asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT davidwilson asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT allisonyoungblood asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT vladimirsairapetian asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT kosukenamekata asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT yutanotsu asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT tristensextro asemiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT kevinfrance semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT girishduvvuri semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT cynthiasfroning semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT alexanderbrown semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT pchristianschneider semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT jsebastianpineda semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT davidwilson semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT allisonyoungblood semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT vladimirsairapetian semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT kosukenamekata semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT yutanotsu semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr
AT tristensextro semiempiricalestimateofsolarextremeultravioletevolutionfrom10myrto10gyr