Detection of fine-structured radio bursts during a superflare on EQ Peg
Superflares are frequently observed on magnetically active stars, particularly on active M-dwarfs, thereby influencing the habitability of nearby exoplanets. However, the causes of superflares remain unclear. Here, combining FAST and TESS, we detected a finely structured decimetric radio burst appearing as groups of spikes during a white-light superflare (total bolometric energy $\sim 10^{33} \ \mathrm{erg}$) on the M-dwarf binary EQ Peg on September 8th, 2022. The most significant ones appeared near the peak time of the optical flare and lasted for about $100 \ \mathrm{s}$. The radio spikes present extremely high brightness temperatures ($\gtrsim 10^{13} \ \mathrm{K}$) and high degrees of circular polarization ($\sim 0.84 \pm 0.16$), indicating the origin of a coherent emission process, most likely the electron cyclotron maser. Assuming that the emission originates from the large-scale dipolar magnetic field, based on Zeeman-Doppler Imaging measurements of EQ Peg, we further locate the sources of the radio spikes, including their heights and latitudes. The results provide strong evidence for finely structured decimetric radio bursts generated by stellar flares and shed light on the origin of superflares.
Authors
- Xin Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2837-7136)
- Hao Ning (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8132-5357)
- Yuankun Kou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4198-2333)
- Baolin Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2047-9664)
- Zhanhao Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8956-547X)
- M. D. Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4978-4972)
- Keping Qiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5093-5088)
- Yao Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6449-8838)
- Guoyin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9610-0433)
Institutions
- Argosy University (US)
- National Astronomical Observatories (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-06-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20680066
- Primary Topic
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00