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New observations by two astronomers from Arizona State University using the Hubble Space Telescope caught a red dwarf star in a violent explosion. The radiation explosion was more powerful than any explosion of this kind ever detected by the Sun and would likely affect the adaptability of the planets orbiting it.
Moreover, astronomers say, such super-light appears more frequently in younger red dwarfs, which explode 100 to 1000 times more powerfully than they will with age.
The super-glare was detected as part of a Hubble Space Telescope observation program called HAZMAT, which means "HAbitable Zones and Dwarf M activity over time". The program examines red dwarfs (also called M dwarves) at three different ages – young, intermediate and old – and observes them in ultraviolet light, where they show the greatest activity.
"The red dwarf stars are the smallest, most prevalent and oldest stars in the galaxy," says Evgenya Shkolnik, assistant professor at the School of Earth Exploration and Research. USS space and principal investigator of the HAZMAT program. "In addition, we believe that most red dwarf stars have planetary systems in orbit around them."
The Hubble telescope's orbit above the Earth's atmosphere provides it with clear and unhindered views of ultraviolet wavelengths. Eruptions are thought to be fed by intense magnetic fields that become entangled by the swirling motions of the stellar atmosphere. When entanglement becomes too intense, the fields break and reconnect, releasing huge amounts of energy.
USS postdoctoral researcher, Parke Loyd, is the first author of the article (to appear in the Astrophysical Journal) that reports stellar explosions.
He said: "When I realized the amount of light emitted by the superflare, I sat a good while watching the screen of my computer, simply thinking:" Whoa. & # 39; "
Loyd notes, "Data collection on young red dwarfs was particularly important because we suspected that these stars would be quite undisciplined in their youth, about one hundred million years after their formation."
He adds: "Most of the potentially habitable planets in our galaxy have had to withstand intense eruptions similar to those we observed at some point in their lives – it's a sobering thought."
Hard environment for planets
About three-quarters of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy are red dwarfs. Most planets "habitable areas" of the galaxy – planets orbiting their stars at a distance where the temperatures are moderate enough to let liquid water on their surface – red dwarfs in orbit. In fact, the closest star to our Sun, a red dwarf named Proxima Centauri, has a planet the size of the Earth in its habitable zone.
However, red dwarfs, especially young red dwarfs, are active stars. They produce eruptions that could release so much energy that it disrupts and eventually destroys the atmosphere of these nascent planets.
"The goal of the HAZMAT program is to understand the habitability of planets around low-mass stars," says Shkolnik. "These low-mass stars are of paramount importance for the understanding of planetary atmospheres." Ultraviolet radiation can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere of a planet or potentially remove it.
Observations reported in the Astrophysical Journal examined the burst frequency of 12 young red dwarfs (40 million years old) and are only the first part of the HAZMAT program. These stars show that young, low – mass stars light up much more frequently and with more energy than older stars and middle – aged stars like our Sun – as evidenced by the superflare.
"With the Sun, we have a hundred years of good observations," said Loyd. "And meanwhile, we've seen one, maybe two, rockets that have an energy approaching that of the super-rocket."
However, he said: "In a little less than a day of observing these young stars by Hubble, we have captured the super-light.This means that we observe super-surfaces occurring every days or even a few times a day. "
Could areas of such frequency and intensity soak the young planets with ultraviolet radiation to the point of ever excluding any possibility of habitability?
According to Loyd, "Flares, like those observed, have the ability to strip the atmosphere of the planet, but that does not necessarily mean that life on the planet is dark and gloomy, maybe it's a different life. from what we imagine, other processes that can restore the atmosphere of the planet, it is certainly a difficult environment, but I would hesitate to call it a sterile environment. "
The next part of the HAZMAT study will be studying middle aged red dwarfs aged 650 million years old. Then the oldest red dwarfs will be analyzed and compared to young and intermediate stars to understand the changing environment of high energy radiation for the planets surrounding these low-mass stars.
Red dwarfs, which are believed to burn for as long as billions of years, have plenty of time to house evolving and habitable planets.
"They have many more opportunities for life to evolve, given their longevity," Shkolnik said. "I do not think we know for sure, one way or the other, if the planets orbiting red dwarfs are still habitable, but I think time will tell."
She says, "It's great to live in a time when we have the technology to answer these kinds of questions, rather than just philosophizing about them."
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The unusual death of a star announces the birth of the compact neutron star binary
Pasadena, California (SPX) Oct 18, 2018
Anthony Piro of Carnegie was part of a team of astronomers led by Caltech who observed the particular death of a massive star that exploded in a surprisingly weak supernova and which faded quickly, possibly creating a compact binary system of neutron stars. Piro's theoretical work provides a crucial context for discovery. Their results are published by Science.
The observations of the Caltech team, including the main author Kishalay De and the project's chief investigator, Mansi Kasliwal (herself a former … read more
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