"Extinction-Level Superflares May Blast Earth's Nearest ..." Topic

…Exoplanet Proxima b.

"The recent discovery of a planet around the star closest to Earth's sun has raised hopes that life might exist around the sun's nearest neighbor, but researchers now find that this world might frequently experience extinction-level "superflares" from its star.

In August, scientists revealed the existence of an alien world around Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star more than 600 times dimmer than the sun that lies just 4.2 light-years from Earth's solar system. This exoplanet, known as Proxima b, could be rocky and about the size of Earth. It also lies in its star's "habitable zone," the area around the star warm enough for the planet to potentially host liquid water on its surface. Since there is life virtually wherever there is water on Earth, being positioned in the habitable zone would raise the chance that Proxima b is home to life as it is known on Earth.

However, life likely needs more than just warmth and water to survive. Past research has found that many exoplanets are subject to superflares from their host stars, which can be up to thousands of times more powerful than ones seen so far from the sun. These massive flares could scour life from planets, especially those close to their stars, like Proxima b, which orbits Proxima Centauri at a distance one-tenth that between Mercury and the sun…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Mutants!

I wrote about this a while back. The instability and dangers of circling a binary star like this, and being a "flare" star is not conducive to life, regardless of Proxima B being in the "Goldilocks" zone.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand