Center for Astrophysics A Hubble image of the M-dwarf star Proxima Centauri, our closest stellar neighbor about four light-years away. Proxima hosts two planets, and is known to actively flare. Astronomers studying the suitability for life evolving on exoplanets around M-dwarf stars have completed a multi-wavelength analysis of an extreme flare on Proxima Cen. Hubble/ ESA/NAS The prospects for life around low-mass, cool M-type stars have been extensively discussed because these stars are the most common ones in the galaxy, and they frequently host Earth-sized planets in their habitable zones (orbits where the surface temperatures can support liquid water). Unfortunately for the prospects of life, however, these stars also exhibit higher levels of stellar activity and flaring than do more massive, solar-type stars, and flares can gradually deplete a planet’s atmosphere of molecules needed for life. Moreover, these hostile conditions persist in some fashion throughout their lifetimes. The star Proxima Centauri, an M-dwarf, is only 4.3 light-years away and hosts the closest exoplanetary system to us. It contains a potentially Earth-mass planet with a ∼230 kelvin temperature and a second, more massive planet in a more distant, colder orbit making the star a prime source for studying habitability around M-dwarf stars. Proxima Cen has also long been known to flare.