Using data obtained during the RATS-Kepler project we identified one short duration flare in a 1 hour sequence of ground based photometry of the dwarf star KIC 5474065. Observations made using GTC show it is a star with a M4 V spectral type. Kepler o
bservations made using 1 min sampling show that KIC 5474065 exhibits large amplitude (deltaF/F>0.4) optical flares which have a duration as short as 10 mins. We compare the energy distribution of flares from KIC 5474065 with that of KIC 9726699, which has also been observed using 1 min sampling, and ground based observations of other M dwarf stars in the literature. We discuss the possible implications of these short duration, relatively low energy flares would have on the atmosphere of exo-planets orbiting in the habitable zone of these flare stars.
We report the discovery of an accreting binary, RAT J1953+1859, made during the RApid Temporal Survey (RATS) on the Isaac Newton Telescope. It showed high amplitude (0.3 mag) quasi-periodic oscillations on a timescale of ~20 mins. Further observation
s made using the Nordic Optical Telescope showed it to be ~4 mag brighter than in the discovery images. These photometric observations, together with radial velocity data taken using the William Herschel Telescope, point to an orbital period of ~90 mins. These data suggest that RAT J1953+1859 is a dwarf novae of the SU UMa type. What makes RAT J1953+1859 unusual is that it is the first such system to be discovered as a result of high amplitude QPOs during quiescence. This suggests that high-cadence wide-field surveys could be another means to discover cataclysmic variables as a result of their short period variability.
