By Daniel Strain

Principal investigator
Meredith MacGregor

Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF); NASA

Collaboration + support
Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy; Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP); National Solar Observatory

Now, that’s one big cosmic explosion.

A research team led by Meredith MacGregor,assistant professor at the Center forAstrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA),has observed the largest flare ever recordedfrom the sun’s nearest neighbor: the starProxima Centauri.

Proxima Centauri is a “red dwarf” star that sitsjust four light-years from Earth. And on May1, 2019, researchers saw it erupt in a record-settingexplosion using a suite of five instrumentsin space and on the ground.

“The star went from normal to 14,000 timesbrighter when seen in ultraviolet wavelengthsover the span of a few seconds,” MacGregorsaid.

She added that such flares from ProximaCentauri might be more common than scientiststhink—bad news for any nearby lifeforms.

Photo by NRAO/S. Dagnello


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