Superflares Blast Exoplanets with Radiation - But Not for Long
How can superflares affect alien life on planets orbiting distant suns?
Using telescopes on the ground and in space allowed astronomers to study superflares from stars, potentially answering questions about life on other worlds.
Stellar flares could affect chances of life developing on planets orbiting other stars. A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examines large stellar flares erupting from a myriad of stars, searching for answers to how those events could alter chances for life on worlds orbiting these stars.
Ultraviolet radiation from flares — including powerful superflares — could result in periodic extinctions, wiping out any lifeforms which may have developed on those worlds.
“Super flares are bursts of energy that are 10 to 1,000 times larger than the biggest flares from the Earth’s sun. These flares can bathe a planet in an amount of ultraviolet light huge enough to doom the chances of life surviving there,” the Evryscope team reports.
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/how-superflares-affect-alien-life
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