Astronomers in Japan have seen a large “super flame” emerging from a nearby star.
Researchers from Kyoto University and the Japan National Astronomical Observatory detected 12 stellar eruptions on AD Leonis, a red dwarf 16 light-years away. A light year, which measures distance in space, equals about 6 trillion miles.
Red dwarf stars are the smallest and most abundant stars in our galaxy. They are also the longest-running stars.
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According to experts, one of the solar flares detected in AD Leonis was 20 times larger than the flares emitted by our own sun, which used the university’s new Seimei telescope to make the discovery.
The research was published in the Publications of the Japan Astronomical Society.
“Solar flares are sudden bursts emanating from the surfaces of stars, including our own sun,” first author Kosuke Namekata explained in a statement.
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“On rare occasions, an extremely large super flare will occur,” he said. “These cause massive magnetic storms, which when emitted from our sun can significantly affect Earth’s technological infrastructure.”
“Our analyzes of the superflare resulted in some very interesting data,” added Namekata.
Specifically, the light from the excited hydrogen atoms in the super flame showed a number of high-energy electrons about an order of magnitude larger than the typical eruptions of our sun, the researchers said.
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“This is the first time this phenomenon has been reported, and it is thanks to the high precision of the Seimei telescope,” Namekata explained.
Scientists are hopeful that their research will help them predict superflares and potentially mitigate damage from thunderstorms on Earth. “We might even begin to understand how these emissions can affect the existence, or emergence, of life on other planets,” said study leader Kazunari Shibata.
In a separate project, NASA released an impressive 61-minute time-lapse video showing a decade in the sun’s life.
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The video was created from images taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
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