Table · dataset · 2025
X-ray activity of nearby G-, K-, and M-type stars
Listed in IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)
The intense X-ray and UV emission of some active M stars has raised questions about the habitability of planets around M-type stars.
Description
We aim to determine the unbiased distribution of X-ray luminosities in complete, volume-limited samples of nearby M dwarfs, and compare them to those of K and G dwarfs. We have constructed volume-complete samples of 205 M stars with spectral type <=M6 within 10pc from the Sun, 129 K stars within 16pc, and 107 G stars within 20pc.
We use X-ray data from Chandra, XMM-Newton, eROSITA, and ROSAT to obtain the X-ray luminosities of the stars. Our samples reach an X-ray detection completeness of 85%, 86%, and 80% for M, K, and G stars. The fractional X-ray luminosities, log(LX/Lbol), of the M stars show a bimodal distribution with one peak at around ~5, mostly contributed by early M stars (M0-M4), and another peak around ~3.5, contributed mainly by M4-M6 stars.
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The comparison of the different spectral classes shows that 63% of all M stars in our sample (80% of the M stars with spectral type <M4) have LX/Lbol values that are within the central 80% quantile of the distribution function for G stars. 55% of all M stars in our sample (and 72% of the M stars with spectral type <M4) have LX/Lbol less than 10 times the solar value. The X-ray activity levels of the majority (~>60%) of nearby M dwarfs no later than M6 are actually not higher than the typical (80% quantile) levels for G-type stars.
The X-ray irradiation of habitable-zone planets around these stars should therefore not present a specific problem for their habitability.
Links
Where it is published
- Reference page cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/694/A93 ↗
landing page · from IVOA Registry
Documentation and papers
- ADS 2025A&A...694A..93Z ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025A%26A...694A..93Z ↗
publication · from IVOA Registry
Catalogue records · 2
- VOResource record dc.g-vo.org/oai.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=ivo_vor&identifier=ivo%3… ↗
metadata API · from IVOA Registry
- Registry record (GAVO) dc.g-vo.org/I/cds.vizier/j/a%2Ba/694/a93 ↗
catalogue entry · from IVOA Registry
Topics
- Stated by source
- X-Ray
- From keywords
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Inferred from text
- Astronomical sciences 74%
Provenance · 1 source records, 9 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory) | ivo://cds.vizier/j/a+a/694/a93 | 13 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:5101 | enrichment · IVOA Registry | taxonomy-embedding@1.1.0 | title+keywords+description (74%) |
| concepts[field].local:field:astronomy | mapping · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:x-ray | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_description |
| license_text | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| publication_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_title |
| updated_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 |