Until now, the world of astronomy has easily recorded x-ray flares that occurred on foreign stars, but the coronal mass ejection (CME) itself has not been observed so far.
Now that has changed, thanks to a research team from the University of Palermo in Italy. The ejection of abundant clouds of plasma beyond the atmosphere of the star into space, each time creating powerful magnetic storms on exoplanets that have a strong protective magnetic field, such as
Earth.
It makes us relatively safe, but if a series of powerful flares and coronal mass ejections occur, the Earth could damage power lines and irradiate passengers aboard airplanes flying at high latitudes. Scientists have noticed this phenomenon on a star called OU Andromedae.
(HR 9024).
It is located 450 light years from Earth and is 3 times more massive and 10 times larger than the Sun.
The plasma ejection was recorded thanks to the Chandra Space Telescope.
Astronomers collected X-ray data and analyzed them for changes in wavelengths.
Then it turned out that after the powerful explosion and flare on HR 9024, there was then an abundant ejection of plasma that crossed the magnetic field of the star and escaped into space.
It has been observed by researchers in Italy as a source of strong X-rays, and astronomers believe that if the star has a planetary system, Earth-like objects could experience massive magnetic storms raging in the upper atmosphere.
Considering the fact that HR 9024 emits clouds of solar wind several times more powerful than the Sun into space, we can assume that there is probably no biological life on the surface of these planets, because it might simply not survive such extreme conditions.