FAST Observations of Wave-like Structures in the Radio Dynamic Spectrum of AD Leo

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zou, Wenjie, Tian, Hui, Zhang, Jiale, Gao, Yuhang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Zou, Wenjie
Tian, Hui
Zhang, Jiale
Gao, Yuhang
author_facet Zou, Wenjie
Tian, Hui
Zhang, Jiale
Gao, Yuhang
contents M-dwarf flare stars like AD Leo are laboratories for studying intense magnetic activities. The coherent radio bursts they produce are powerful probes of stellar coronal plasma and magnetic fields. In this study, we present high-resolution observations of AD Leo from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) that reveal wave-like structures in its radio dynamic spectrum. The observations show trains of short-duration, narrowband sub-bursts where the central frequency, frequency drift rate, and flux density are all simultaneously modulated with a period of 1.53 s. Notably, modulation of the central frequency is approximately in-phase with that of the drift rate but roughly in anti-phase with that of the flux density. Furthermore, the amplitude of the frequency modulation grows with an e-fold timescale of 2.4 s. We interpret the observed sinusoidal frequency modulations as a possible signature of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave in the stellar corona. Our work provides a window into stellar coronal seismology and offers an opportunity to infer the local plasma environment via the MHD wave model.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_00457
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle FAST Observations of Wave-like Structures in the Radio Dynamic Spectrum of AD Leo
Zou, Wenjie
Tian, Hui
Zhang, Jiale
Gao, Yuhang
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
M-dwarf flare stars like AD Leo are laboratories for studying intense magnetic activities. The coherent radio bursts they produce are powerful probes of stellar coronal plasma and magnetic fields. In this study, we present high-resolution observations of AD Leo from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) that reveal wave-like structures in its radio dynamic spectrum. The observations show trains of short-duration, narrowband sub-bursts where the central frequency, frequency drift rate, and flux density are all simultaneously modulated with a period of 1.53 s. Notably, modulation of the central frequency is approximately in-phase with that of the drift rate but roughly in anti-phase with that of the flux density. Furthermore, the amplitude of the frequency modulation grows with an e-fold timescale of 2.4 s. We interpret the observed sinusoidal frequency modulations as a possible signature of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave in the stellar corona. Our work provides a window into stellar coronal seismology and offers an opportunity to infer the local plasma environment via the MHD wave model.
title FAST Observations of Wave-like Structures in the Radio Dynamic Spectrum of AD Leo
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.00457