Starspots as the origin of ultrafast drifting radio bursts from an active M dwarf.

ABSTRACT: Detecting coherent radio bursts from nearby M dwarfs provides opportunities for exploring their magnetic activity and interaction with orbiting exoplanets. However, it remains uncertain whether the emission is related to flare-like activity similar to the Sun or magnetospheric process akin to magnetized planets. Using observations (1.0 to 1.5 gigahertz) taken by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, we found a type of millisecond-scale radio bursts with exceptionally high-frequency drift rates (~8 gigahertz per second) from an active M dwarf, AD Leo. The ultrafast drift rates point to a source region with a notably low magnetic scale height (<0.15 [Formula: see text] , [Formula: see text] as the stellar radius), a feature not expected in a commonly assumed dipole-like

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12533641 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature