Parkes observations for project P1018 semester 2019APRS_03

Stellar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) may significantly impact the habitability of their planetary companions. M-dwarfs are particularly interesting in this regard, as they are known to flare more frequently and powerfully than the Sun, and a large fraction of them are likely to host planets within their habitable zones. To fully characterise the impact of stellar activity and space weather events on companion planets, a sustained, multi-wavelength campaign is required to trace particle acceleration and energisation occurring in distinct regions of the stellar magnetosphere. The discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting within the ‘habitable zone’ of the active M-dwarf Proxima Centauri has spurred renewed interest of this system in the literature. At just 1.3 pc away, this system is ideal for developing our understanding of the impact of space weather events on Earth-like planets around active stars. As part of a large, multi-wavelength international campaign we are proposing 60 hours of Parkes Radio Telescope observations targeting Proxima Centauri, using the new UWL receiver. The large instantaneous bandwidth and high time-resolution capability of the Parkes UWL receiver will allow us to comprehensively characterise radio bursts at gigahertz frequencies. This will provide important diagnostics of the magnetospheric environment of this star, and may enable direct observation of space weather events such as CMEs. If successful, these observations will be a key part of an extensive campaign that will significantly improve our understanding of our nearest stellar neighbour.

恒星耀斑与日冕物质抛射（coronal mass ejections, CMEs）会对其行星伴星的宜居性造成显著影响。其中M型矮星（M-dwarfs）在此领域尤为值得关注：已知其耀斑爆发的频率与强度均高于太阳，且其中很大一部分的宜居带内极有可能存在行星。为全面表征恒星活动与空间天气事件对行星伴星的影响，需开展持续的多波段观测计划，以追踪恒星磁层不同区域内发生的粒子加速与能量化过程。围绕活跃M型矮星比邻星（Proxima Centauri）宜居带运行的类地系外行星的发现，再度引发了学界对该系统的研究热潮。该系统距离地球仅1.3秒差距（pc），是探究空间天气事件对活跃恒星周围类地行星影响的理想研究对象。作为大型多波段国际观测计划的组成部分，我们拟使用新型UWL接收机，开展为期60小时的帕克斯射电望远镜（Parkes Radio Telescope）比邻星观测任务。帕克斯UWL接收机具备大瞬时带宽与高时间分辨率的特性，可让我们全面表征吉赫兹频段的射电暴特征。这将为该恒星的磁层环境提供关键诊断信息，还有望直接观测到CMEs这类空间天气事件。若观测顺利完成，这些观测数据将成为大型综合观测计划的核心组成部分，大幅提升我们对这一距离地球最近恒星邻居的认知。