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We report on the determination of the mass of TOI-519 b, a transiting substellar object around a mid-M dwarf. We carried out radial velocity measurements using Subaru/InfraRed Doppler (IRD), revealing that TOI-519 b is a planet with a mass of $0.463^{+0.082}_{-0.088}\, M_{\rm Jup}$. We also found that the host star is metal rich ([Fe/H] = 0.27 ± 0.09 dex) and has the lowest effective temperature (Teff= 3322 ± 49 K) among all stars hosting known close-in giant planets based on the IRD spectra and mid-resolution infrared spectra obtained with NASA Infrared Telescope Facility/SpeX. The core mass of TOI-519 b inferred from a thermal evolution model ranges from 0 to ∼30 M⊕, which can be explained by both core accretion and disk instability models as the formation origins of this planet. However, TOI-519 is in line with the emerging trend that M dwarfs with close-in giant planets tend to have high metallicity, which may indicate that they formed in the core accretion model. The system is also consistent with the potential trend that close-in giant planets around M dwarfs tend to be less massive than those around FGK dwarfs.

In this paper, we present the results from spectroscopic and photometric observations of the M-type flare star YZ CMi in the framework of the Optical and Infrared Synergetic Telescopes for Education and Research (OISTER) collaborations during the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observation period. We detected 145 white-light flares from the TESS light-curve and four Hα flares from the OISTER observations performed between 2019 January 16 and 18. Among them, three Hα flares were associated with white-light flares. However, one of them did not show clear brightening in the continuum; during this flare, the Hα line exhibited blue asymmetry which lasted for ∼60 min. The line-of-sight velocity of the blueshifted component is in the range from −80 to −100 km s−1. This suggests that there can be upward flows of chromospheric cool plasma even without detectable red/near-infrared (NIR) continuum brightening. By assuming that the blue asymmetry in the Hα line was caused by a prominence eruption on YZ CMi, we estimated the mass and kinetic energy of the upward-moving material to be 1016–1018g and 1029.5–1031.5erg, respectively. The estimated mass is comparable to expectations from the empirical relation between the flare X-ray energy and mass of upward-moving material for stellar flares and solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In contrast, the estimated kinetic energy for the non-white-light flare on YZ CMi is roughly two orders of magnitude smaller than that expected from the relation between flare X-ray energy and kinetic energy for solar CMEs. This could be understood by the difference in the velocity between CMEs and prominence eruptions.

We have performed five night spectroscopic observations of the Hα line of EV Lac with a medium wavelength resolution (R∼ 10000) using the 2 m Nayuta telescope at the Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory. EV Lac always possesses the Hα emission line; however, its intensity was stronger on 2015 August 15 than during the other four night periods. On this night, we observed a rapid rise (∼20 min) and a subsequent slow decrease (∼1.5 hr) of the emission-line intensity of Hα, which was probably caused by a flare. We also found an asymmetrical change in the Hα line on the same night. The enhancement has been observed in the blue wing of the Hα line during each phase of this flare (from the flare start to the flare end), and absorption components were present in its red wing during the early and later phases of the flare. Such blue enhancement (blue asymmetry) of the Hα line is sometimes seen during solar flares, but only during the early phases. Even for solar flares, little is known about the origin of the blue asymmetry. Compared with solar flare models, the presented results can lead to better understanding of the dynamics of stellar flares.

In 2015 March, the notable WZ Sge-type dwarf nova AL Com exhibited an unusual outburst with a recurrence time of ∼ 1.5 yr, which is the shortest interval of superoutbursts among WZ Sge-type dwarf novae. Early superhumps in the superoutburst light curve were absent, and a precursor was observed at the onset of the superoutburst for the first time in WZ Sge-type dwarf novae. The present superoutburst can be interpreted as a result of the condition that the disk radius barely reached the 3:1 resonance radius, but did not reach the 2:1 resonance one. Ordinary superhumps immediately grew following the precursor. The initial part of the outburst is indistinguishable from those of superoutbursts of ordinary SU UMa-type dwarf novae. This observation supports the interpretation that the 2:1 resonance suppresses a growth of ordinary superhumps. The estimated superhump period and superhump period derivative are Psh= 0.0573185(11) d and Pdot= +1.5(3.1) × 10−5, respectively. These values indicate that the evolution of ordinary superhumps is the same as that in past superoutbursts with much larger extent. Although the light curve during the plateau stage was typical for an SU UMa-type dwarf nova, this superoutburst showed a rebrightening, together with a regrowth of the superhumps. The overall light curve of the rebrightening was the almost the same as those observed in previous rebrightenings. This implies that the rebrightening type is inherent in the system.