Title: Infrared Flares from M Dwarfs: a Hinderance to Future Transiting Exoplanet Studies,
Abstract: Many current and future exoplanet missions are pushing to infrared (IR)
wavelengths where the flux contrast between the planet and star is more
favorable (Deming et al. 2009), and the impact of stellar magnetic activity is
decreased. Indeed, a recent analysis of starspots and faculae found these forms
of stellar activity do not substantially impact the transit signatures or
science potential for FGKM stars with JWST (Zellem et al. 2017). However, this
is not true in the case of flares, which I demonstrate can be a hinderance to
transit studies in this note.