In a new press release, university astrophysicist Meredith MacGregor indicated that Proxima Centauri might be a small, dim star but don t let its diminutive size and feeble radiance fool you. Existing 20 trillion miles beyond our own sun, it s home to at least two planets, Proxima Centauri a and Proxima Centauri b.
MacGregor is an assistant professor at the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) and Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) at CU Boulder in Colorado.
Credit: NRAO/NSF/S. Dagnello
She and her team watched Proxima Centauri for roughly 40 hours using an array of nine ground telescopes and one orbital observatory. During the study, Proxima Centauri shot out an intense radiation plume that instantly elevated it to one of the largest ever observed in the Milky Way.
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IMAGE: Artist s conception of the violent stellar flare from Proxima Centauri discovered by scientists in 2019 using nine telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Powerful. view more
Credit: NRAO/S. Dagnello
Scientists have spotted the largest flare ever recorded from the sun s nearest neighbor, the star Proxima Centauri.
The research, which appears today in
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, was led by the University of Colorado Boulder and could help to shape the hunt for life beyond Earth s solar system.
CU Boulder astrophysicist Meredith MacGregor explained that Proxima Centauri is a small but mighty star. It sits just four light-years or more than 20 trillion miles from our own sun and hosts at least two planets, one of which may look something like Earth. It s also a red dwarf, the name for a class of stars that are unusually petite and dim.
University of Colorado Boulder
Artist’s conception of a violent flare erupting from the star Proxima Centauri. (Credit: NRAO/S. Dagnello)
Scientists have spotted the largest flare ever recorded from the sun’s nearest neighbor, the star Proxima Centauri.
The research, which appears today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, was led by CU Boulder and could help to shape the hunt for life beyond Earth’s solar system.
CU Boulder astrophysicist Meredith MacGregor explained that Proxima Centauri is a small but mighty star. It sits just four light-years or more than 20 trillion miles from our own sun and hosts at least two planets, one of which may look something like Earth. It’s also a “red dwarf,” the name for a class of stars that are unusually petite and dim.
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