Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Space Telescope Catches Monster Flare

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the big-boom dept.

gollum123 writes, "NASA's Swift satellite has seen a giant flare explode from a nearby star. Our sun also flares when twisted magnetic field lines in the solar atmosphere suddenly snap — but this was on a far larger scale, perhaps 100 million times as strong. The energy released by the explosion on II Pegasi was equivalent to about 50 quintillion atomic bombs. If the Sun were ever to produce such an outburst, it would almost certainly cause a mass extinction on Earth. II Pegasi is a binary system 135 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Its two stars are close, only a few stellar radii apart; as a result, tidal forces cause both stars to spin quickly, rotating in lockstep once in seven days compared to the Sun's 28-day rotation period. Fast rotation is thought to be conducive to strong stellar flares."

2 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Extinction? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
    Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite have spotted a stellar flare on a nearby star so powerful that, had it been from our sun, it would have triggered a mass extinction on Earth.

    Do they mean -
    1. It would have caused mass extinction for sure
                or
    2. It would have caused mass extinction, if the solar flare was pointing to the earth ?

    My point being, the flare is directional. If it was not pointing to earth and still could have caused extinction, then it could mean that a much less powerful flare can cause extinction in earth, if it is pointing straight to earth.

    I was unable to understand from the article, i.e. why the question.
  2. Re:WMD? by Grave · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Which bombs? North Korean bombs or the Russian Ivan bombs? The Ivan test was about 10,000 times more powerful than the North Korean bomb.

    I find blanket statements like "More powerful than x nuclear bombs," to be infuriatingly alarmist. Give me a raw tonnage number any day. THAT interests me much more.

    (Of course, I suppose the extra five zero's one might potentially add here aren't that significant, as it is probably still enough power either way to blow up the Earth.)