The effects of opacity in the transition region of YZ CMi

Abstract

It has generally been assumed that the emission from the upper atmosphere of late-type stars is optically thin. In the present paper we use the Si IV and C IV resonance lines to investigate this assumption for the active dMe star YZ CMi. The significant deviations of the line ratios from their optically thin values, demonstrate that opacity can be quite important particularly in the case of stellar flares. These deviations are combined with a method of escape probabilities to derive optical depths of approximately unity for the lines under consideration. We demonstrate that, if the electron density in the atmosphere is known, opacity can provide important information on the linear dimensions of the scattering layer. Using this technique, we have estimated path lengths of a few kilometers for one of the flares under consideration. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the data archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.