In a unique experiment, astronomers working on nine of the largest ground-based and space-based
Proxima Centauri is small,but a powerful star. It is located just four light years from the Sun. At least two planets revolve around it. One of them may look like Earth. Proxima Centauri is also a red dwarf, the name of a class of unusually small and dim stars.
The star's mass is only one-eighth the mass of the Sun. However, it managed to surprise astronomers.
Scientists observed it for about 40 hours usingnine telescopes on earth and in space. Proxima Centauri emitted a powerful flare that lasted only seven seconds but caused a burst in both ultraviolet and millimeter wavelengths. The flare was characterized by a strong pulse burst, never before observed at such wavelengths. Its power was a hundred times greater than any similar flare on the Sun. It was also one of the strongest observed anywhere in the galaxy. The star became 14,000 times brighter.
The team's findings hint at new physics that could change the way scientists think about stellar flares.
Read more
The first accurate map of the world was created. What's wrong with everyone else?
Ingenuity helicopter successfully takes off on Mars
NASA told how they will deliver samples of Mars to Earth