Superflare of the sun: focus on risks and consequences for the earth!

Superflare of the sun: focus on risks and consequences for the earth!

Göttingen, Deutschland - scientists warn of the potential danger of superflares, huge radiation outbreaks of the sun, which could occur far more frequently than previously assumed. According to a current study, such events could occur on average every 100 years in sun-like stars such as our sun, reported the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS). Diese Erkenntnis basiert auf der Analyse von über 56.000 Sternen, die vom NASA-Weltraumteleskop Kepler zwischen 2009 und 2013 beobachtet wurden, wie aus einem Bericht von mpg.de emerges.

A superflare can release more energy than trillion hydrogen bombs and would therefore be about a hundred times stronger than the renowned Carrington event flare from 1859, which already made massive intervention and telegraphic systems in the earth infrastructure. These new research show that the eruptive potential of the sun was underestimated, said Dr. Valeriy Vasilyev from MPS. The likelihood of such events could cause the geoscientific community to deal more intensively with the question of whether the earth was affected by similar outbreaks in the past, while the analysis of the Kepler telescope is considered particularly precisely, such as merkur.de reported.

The examination and its importance

In their study, the scientists evaluated the data of 2,889 superflares, which were indicated on 2,527 of the observed stars. A crucial aspect of their investigation was the careful selection of the stars with similar properties to the sun, as this increased the accuracy of the results. The director of the MPS, Prof. Dr. Sami Solanki, explained that direct long -term observations of the sun were not possible, instead the researchers rely on the behavior of the determined stars. With this new knowledge, the focus of the need to take preventive measures is placed in order to alleviate the consequences of possible super flares in good time, for example by the development of predictive systems, which are to be supported by the ESA space probe from 2031.