Astronomers spying on a stellar system located dozens of lightyears from Earth have, for the first time, observed a troubling fireworks show.
Astronomers spying on a stellar system located dozens of lightyears from Earth have, for the first time, observed a troubling fireworks show: A star named EK Draconis ejected a massive burst of energy and charged particles in an event that was much more powerful than anything scientists have seen in our own solar system.
The researchers, including astrophysicist Yuta Notsu of the University of Colorado Boulder, published their results Dec. 9 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The study explores a stellar phenomenon called a “coronal mass ejection,” sometimes known as a solar storm. Notsu explained the sun shoots out these sorts of eruptions on a regular basis. They’re made up of clouds of extremely hot particles, or plasma that can hurtle through space at speeds of millions of miles per hour. And they’re potentially bad news: If a coronal mass ejection hit Earth dead-on, it could fry satellites in orbit and shut down the power grids serving entire cities.
“Coronal mass ejections can have a serious impact on Earth and human society,” said Notsu, a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder and the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory.
Read more at University of Colorado at Boulder
Image: Artist's depiction of the star EK Draconis ejecting a coronal mass ejection as two planets orbit. (Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)
