Scientists have studied the nearest star to us, Proxima Centauri, in a wide range of wavelengths. They found that it can produce quite powerful submillimeter flares that remain invisible to us in the usual range.
Observing Proxima Centauri
New research from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array shows that Proxima Centauri may be more active than previously thought. The fact that it is producing flares that have not been seen before, according to a study recently published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Proxima Centauri is the closest red dwarf to us. More importantly, it is also the closest star to the Sun that has its own planet. Or rather, two planets, but scientists are mainly interested in the inner one. Studies show that it may be a slightly cool super-Earth, quite suitable for life.
More specifically, the suitability of Proxima b for life, like all Earth-like planets in red dwarf systems, remains hotly debated. After all, most of these small stars have frenzied, by solar system standards, explosive activity. And something that causes only electronic malfunctions for us, there it can simply “blow away” the atmosphere.
Whether all this applies to Proxima Centauri and its planets remains debatable. On the one hand, the Earth-like planet is very close to the star. On the other hand, it has not yet been possible to determine unequivocally whether the flares there are strong enough to have devastating consequences.
New observations
The observations made with ALMA have allowed us to learn quite a bit about Proxima Centauri. In particular, 463 flares with an energy range of 1024 to 1027 erg were recorded in the millimeter band.
Scientists have also determined that Proxima Centauri is one continuous convective zone. That is, the substance inside it rises to the surface and falls to the center. On the Sun, only individual layers have such properties.
The convective nature of the star determines the power and increased activity of its magnetic field. It literally shoots out charged particles. However, until now, scientists have not noticed all these explosions because they are quite faint in the optical range.
According to phys.org
