A record amount of brightness has been observed at the Proxima Centaur, the star closest to the Sun, writes the IFL Science science portal. The cosmic cataclysm was fixed by a telescopic network of nine telescopes.
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Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star, one-eighth the mass of the Sun. At times, brightness can be observed at the stars (in technical terms, this phenomenon is called fleece), but the event observed on May 1, 2019, was more extreme than ever.
The ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter / Submillimeter Network) telescope system studied the alien star in the microwave range, the brightness of which increased a thousandfold in a matter of seconds.
Examining in the far ultraviolet range, the Hubble Space Telescope measured an even greater fourteen thousand times the brightness.
To the best of our knowledge, there are two planets orbiting Proxima Centauri, Proxima b and Proxima c. The latter is a so-called mini-Neptune with a earth mass of seven, while the former is a roughly Earth-sized rock planet orbiting in the habitable zone of the star, i.e., in principle, it may be liquid water on its surface.
However, in the case of Proxima Centauri, the habitable zone is much closer to the star than in the Solar System. As a result, Proxima b also orbits much closer to its parent star, avoiding it in just 11 days.
Due to its proximity, the planet is hit by two thousand times stronger solar winds than the Earth, and a fler with a force similar to the current one will certainly have a negative effect on the planet’s habitability.
ALMA and Hubble were also monitored by the Australian ASKAP (Australian Square Kilometer Network Locator) telescopic network, NASA’s TESS exoplanet hunting satellite, and the Irénée du Pont Telescope.
Proxima Centauri is about as old as the Sun, meaning it can bombard its planets with high-energy glows for billions of years. By studying these extreme flers simultaneously with several instruments, we can decipher the load on these planets and how they may have changed as a result. “ Said Dr. Alycia Weinberger of the Carnegie Institute of Science.
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