TRAPPIST-1 Flares from JWST NIRSpec PRISM Observations

The TRAPPIST-1 (T-1) system is one of JWST's most studied targets, with over 400 hours of telescope time focused on characterizing the atmospheres of its transiting exoplanets. The system provides a unique laboratory to study seven (currently known) Earth-sized exoplanets around an ultra-cool (M8V) host star. One ongoing JWST program is using T-1b as a stellar contamination proxy to search for an atmosphere on T-1e using close transit windows (<8 hours between transits, GO 6456 & 9256), with the idea that the contamination signal from unocculted surface features will be shared between the planets and therefore model-independently identified. However, flares are stochastic, short duration events (min - hrs) that continue to contaminate the transmission spectra. Here we present preliminary results of the NIRSpec PRISM flares that have been detected in the GO 6456 & 9256 programs. We showcase how the flares are changing as a function of time and wavelength. Future work (AR 11007) aims to develop a wavelength sensitive flare template to model the morphology of stellar flares in JWST infrared observations.