The Most Common Stars in Our Galaxy May Be More Habitable Than We Thought EVAN GOUGH, UNIVERSE TODAY 17 JANUARY 2021 Red dwarf stars are the most common kind of star in our neighbourhood, and probably in the Milky Way. Because of that, many of the Earth-like and potentially life-supporting exoplanets we've detected are in orbit around red dwarfs. The problem is that red dwarfs can exhibit intense flaring behaviour, much more energetic than our relatively placid Sun.
So what does that mean for the potential of those exoplanets to actually support life? Most life on Earth, and likely on other worlds, relies on stellar energy to survive. The Sun has been the engine for life on Earth since the first cells reproduced. But sometimes, like all stars, the Sun acts up and emits flares.