Simultaneous observation of the Pleiades and Praesepe clusters with XMM/Newton and Kepler, as part of the K2 campaign. Pleiades and Praesepe are two well-known and bright clusters, with an of 125 Myrs and 600 Myrs and a distance of about 136 pc and 182 pc, respectively. Given their proximity to us and their rich stellar population, these clusters have been the subject of an enormous number of scientific publication.

Pleiades and Praesepe have been included in the K2 campaigns 4 and 5. Kepler observations provide excellent light curves in the optical band with a time resolution of 30 minutes. Besides, simultaneous observations in the X-ray bands have been obtained: a total of six fields of the Pleiades (420 ksec) and five of the Praesepe (406 ksec) were observed with XMM/Newton (P.I. Jeremy J. Drake). X-ray observations provide insight on the emission from the corona and on the most energetic phenomena occurring in these stars such as flares.

Fields of the Pleiades observed with XMM as part of the joint K2/XMM project

Fields of the Praesepe observed with XMM as part of the joint K2/XMM project

I am involved in this international scientific collaboration with two main roles. First, the analysis of the flares observed in the stars associated with these two clusters. The first step of this analysis were the selection of the brightest flares observed in the stars of the Pleiades (younger and thus more active) both in optical and in X-rays. I have selected about 30 stars showing very intense flares observed both in optical and X-rays and data analysis is still ongoing. The main aim of this study will be the characterization of the flares and the evolution of the plasma confined in the magnetic loops. The second part of the project will be analysis of the X-ray observations and the study of observed sources.

XMM observation 0761920301 of the Pleiades

A flare of a star in the Pleiades observed with Kepler and XMM/mos1

Scientific products:

Data analysis still ongoing