CANADA: Astronomers have spotted a star producing a superflare in our galaxy. The star is quite similar to our Sun and the research team concluded that Sun is capable of producing a superflare which could be destructive for life on our planet earth. It is highly unlikely but not impossible, according to the research paper.
The star KIC9655129 produced superflare which was having similar properties to smaller magnitude solar flares produced by our Sun. The research team noted that the process causing the normal magnitude solar flares is similar to the one that leads to superflare.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Warwick’s Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics and the research paper has been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“Our solar system is filled with plasma, or ionised gas, originating from the Sun as a result of the solar wind and other more violent solar eruptions, such as solar flares,” study co-author Chloë Pugh, of the University of Warwick’s Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, said in a press release.
Led by the University of Warwick, the research has found a stellar superflare on a star observed by NASA’s Kepler space telescope with wave patterns similar to those that have been observed in solar flares.
Superflares are thousands of times more powerful than those ever recorded on the Sun, and are frequently observed on some stars.
