A Multiwavelength Look at Proxima Centauri's Flares
13 comments
·April 3, 2025lifeisstillgood
wil421
What if we are the only ants in the ocean?
imglorp
Isn't that super unlikely?
It seems like there are planets in most star systems. Even given what's been called a "gross underestimation" of 10^24 stars in the (observable) universe, even if you define some habitable zone based on our n=1 experience, even if you take some away based on the OP paper saying flares might make things a little harder at Prox, then that's still many Sagans* worth of planets, each of which gets a shot at growing telescope builders. That's a lot of chances.
* "billions and billions"
dylan604
Even if...we'd still be too far away to communicate in any meaningful way. If today we were to send a message equivalent to a signal flare, it would not be received within any of our lifetimes and some within any of our species' lifetime.
pfdietz
> Isn't that super unlikely?
We don't know enough to say whether it is unlikely or not. Pointing to lots of stars and waving your hands doesn't represent an argument.
0hijinks
> Small M-dwarf stars ... operate through convection ... likened to what we see in a boiling cauldron of water.
> Larger stars like the Sun show a mix of radiative transfer – photons being absorbed and reabsorbed as they make their way to the surface – and convection.
> That enhances M-dwarf flare activity as their plasma is twisted and rotated, producing magnetic fields that snap open only to reconnect.
This is the first post I've seen targeted toward generic geeks that explained it that way. It makes total sense, is really cool, and I'm glad they wrote this article.
pfdietz
M dwarf stars, being fully convective (at least, the ones lighter than 0.35 Msun), cycle their entire material content through their cores. This is unlike the Sun, where the core is effectively isolated from overlying layers, and will run out of hydrogen while those outer layers still contain a great deal of it.
As a result, and due to their low luminosity, M dwarf stars can go on burning hydrogen for a very long time, perhaps as long as 12 trillion years for a 0.1 Msun star, much longer than the universe has existed so far.
indoordin0saur
Been reading this gem of a blog for years. Happy to see it get some attention here.
I sometimes liken our civilisation as a reed mat floating across the pacific but with ants on it who have invented telescopes, and are trying their best to work out what sales are on at 5th Avenue - I love that we are “concerned” about atmospheric stripping millions of miles away - it gives me hope for those ants floating around