Researchers from Kyoto University were able to photograph a superflare on
the binary star system V1355 Orionis using both terrestrial and satellite
data. A large prominence eruption that may have caused Coronal Mass
Ejections (CMEs) signaled the start of the superflare. The research, which
was published in The Astrophysical Journal, sheds fresh light on how
superflares occur and how they can affect planetary and life history.
A group of Japanese astronomers simultaneously observed a superflare on a
star from the ground and from space to get a more thorough image of it. The
flare that was noticed began with a tremendous, fast-erupting prominence.
These findings help us understand how superflares and stellar prominence
explosions take place.
Superflares from some stars have been observed that are more than ten times
bigger than the biggest solar flare ever observed on the Sun. Space weather
is a term used to describe how solar flares' hot, ionized plasma affects the
atmosphere surrounding the Earth. The evolution of any planets that form
orbiting the star, or the evolution of any life that forms on those planets,
must be significantly impacted by more intense superflares. However, it is
unclear exactly how superflares and prominence eruptions on stars
happen.
The 3.8-m Seimei Telescope in Japan and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite (TESS) were utilized by a team at Kyoto University led by Shun
Inoue to keep an eye on the binary star system V1355 Orionis, which is known
to routinely produce large-scale superflares. 400 light-years distant in the
constellation of Orion is V1355 Orionis.
The team's continuous, high temporal resolution measurements were
successful in catching a superflare. Data analysis reveals that the
prominence eruption, which is a phenomena, is where the superflare started.
Even the most conservative estimates far exceed the star's escape velocity
(347 km/s), demonstrating that the prominence eruption was capable of
escaping the star's gravity and evolving into Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).
Calculating the eruption's velocity requires making some assumptions about
aspects that aren't directly observable. The prominence eruption, which
carried billions of tons of material, was also one of the largest ever
seen.
The Astrophysical Journal published these findings on April 27, 2023 as
"Detection of a high-velocity prominence eruption leading to a CME
associated with a superflare on the RS CVn-type star V1355 Orionis" by Inoue
et al.
