Proxima Centauri shoots out humongous flare, with big implications for alien life
Scientists have spotted one of the largest stellar flares ever recorded in our galaxy. The jets of plasma shot outward from the Sun’s nearest neighbour, the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. The flare, which was around 100 times more powerful than any experienced in our Solar System, could change the way scientists think about stellar radiation and alien life.
Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star located approximately 4.25 light years from Earth. Its mass is one-eighth of the Sun’s, and it is orbited by two known exoplanets. One of these planets, Proxima Centauri b, is considered to be Earth-like and lies within the star’s habitable zone – the distance from a star that could support the development of life. Stellar flares are the result of a star’s strong magnetic fields. These fields – which are created by large amounts of electrically charged gas – can get twisted together and suddenly snap back into place to release an enormous amount of energy in the form of radiation, kind of like firing an elastic band at someone with your fingers.
Unlike flares from the Sun, this flare emitted different kinds of radiation. It produced a huge surge of ultraviolet light and radio waves, known as ‘millimetre radiation.’ This suggests that stellar flares given off by red dwarfs are much more violent than previously expected. The type and amount of radiation given off by Proxima Centauri could make it very hard for life to survive on its orbiting exoplanets, which likely have no real atmosphere due to the powerful flares.