Who's Afraid of a Stellar Superflare?
Rachel Osten (University of Maryland/NASA GSFC)
The ability of late-type stellar outer atmospheres to produce X-ray emissions shaped by reconnecting magnetic fields is now known to be a commonplace phenomenon. Such stars are also prolific producers of transient X-ray emissions, but these emissions represent only the tip of the iceberg of flare energetics. The surprising recent detection of a flare from a nearby active binary with the Swift satellite (under the guise of a GRB) has revealed new insights in stellar flare physics, made possible only by the unique design of Swift. I will describe this singular event, and use it as a starting point to discuss new insights gained in stellar flare physics as well as the consequences of large explosive events on stellar environments. The effect of large releases of stellar ionizing radiation, at levels 150,000 times more powerful than the largest solar flares, has implications in a variety of stellar environments, from young hyperactive stars surrounded by a planet-forming disk, to superflares from normal solar-like stars and their effects on terrestrial planet atmospheres (and life!).