[ad_1]
Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that violent stars thrown by the host star make the planets in orbit uninhabitable by changing their atmosphere.
NASA said in a statement
"M dwarf" is the astronomical term for a red dwarf star – the smallest, most abundant, and most enduring star type in our galaxy, according to NASA the study published in The Astrophysical. Newspaper.
The HAZMAT program is an ultraviolet study of red dwarfs of three different ages: young, intermediate and old.
to NASA.
The ultraviolet sensitivity of Hubble makes the telescope very useful for observing these flakes.
It is thought that the eruptions are powered by intense magnetic fields entangled in the noises of the stellar atmosphere.
When entanglement becomes too intense, the fields break down and reconnect, releasing huge amounts of energy.
The team discovered that the flares of the youngest red dwarves studied – roughly 40 million years – are 100 to 1000 times more energetic than when the stars are older.
This younger age is when terrestrial planets form around their stars, NASA said.
About three quarters of the stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs.
Most "living space" planets in the galaxy – planets orbiting their stars at a distance where temperatures are moderate enough to allow liquid water to remain on their surface – probably red dwarfs orbit. ] In fact, the closest star to our Sun, a red dwarf called Proxima Centauri, has a planet the size of the Earth in its habitable zone.
However, young red dwarfs are active stars, producing ultraviolet eruptions so explosive that they could influence the chemistry of the atmosphere and eventually strip the atmosphere of these nascent planets.
The study examined the burst frequency of 12 young red dwarfs. The observation program detected one of the most intense stellar eruptions ever observed under ultraviolet light.
Nicknamed "Hazflare", this event was more energetic than the most powerful eruption of our Sun ever recorded.
have the ability to strip the atmosphere of a planet. But that does not necessarily mean that life on the planet is gloomy and dark, "said Parke Loyd of the University of Arizona in the United States.
" It may be a different life from that that we imagine. Or, other processes could restore the atmosphere of the planet. It's certainly a harsh environment, but I'd be reluctant to say that it's a barren environment, "said Loyd.
" The goal of the HAZMAT program is to contribute to the understanding of the livability of planets around low-mbad stars, "said Evgenya Shkolnik of the University of Arizona, the program's senior investigator.
[ad_2]
Source link
