Stellar Flares, Superflares, and Coronal Mass Ejections—Entering the Big Data Era

Abstract

Flares, sometimes accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are the result of sudden changes in the magnetic field of stars with high energy release through magnetic reconnection, which can be observed across a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to the optical range to X-rays. In our observational review, we attempt to collect some fundamental new results, which can largely be linked to the Big Data era that has arrived due to the expansion of space photometric observations over the last two decades. We list the different types of stars showing flare activity and their observation strategies and discuss how their main stellar properties relate to the characteristics of the flares (or even CMEs) they emit. Our goal is to focus, without claiming to be complete, on those results that may, in one way or another, challenge the “standard” flare model based on the solar paradigm.

Keywords

• late-type stars
• stellar magnetic activity
• starspots
• stellar flares
• superflares
• stellar coronal mass ejections