A superflare erupts from a young sunlike star in this artist’s impression. Credit: CfA/Melissa Weiss Solar flares are bright flashes of light from the Sun that release large amounts of electromagnetic radiation. And while normal flares can release as much as 1025 joules of energy, so-called superflares, observed on other stars, are up to 10,000 … Read more
High-energy, powerful, and violent stellar explosions called “superflares” have been found to erupt from stars like the sun roughly once every 100 years, making these blasts far more common than scientists had thought. Solar flares, eruptions of high-energy radiation, can have serious effects on Earth, with the potential to impact communication systems and power infrastructure. … Read more
Death by black hole isn’t always inevitable for stars that exist in binary systems with one of these cosmic titans. There may be a way for small stars in such systems to dodge their expected fates: violent supernovas that end in the creation of another black hole. This expected mechanism is also believed to turn … Read more