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flare star |
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flare starStar that varies in brightness repeatedly but sporadically, sometimes by more than one magnitude, within a few minutes. The cause is thought to be the eruption of flares like those observed on the Sun but much larger (see solar flare). Proxima Centauri, in Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, is a flare star. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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If Proxima indeed orbits Alpha - and therefore probably arose from the same stellar nursery at the same time -- then researchers will have to reconsider certain important theoretical issues, Matthews and Gilmore say, Proxima is a flare star, given to periodic and dramatic surface brightenings. At a press conference last week, researchers announced that the Hubble Space Telescope had detected such radiation from a Milky Way flare star called AU Microscopium. In analyzing their discovery, the observers rule out possible foreground objects in our own galaxy, such as flare stars, asteroids and dwarf novas, on grounds that the object, though variable, does not vary quickly enough for a flare star. |
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