Super flares are massive energy bursts, ranging from 10 to 1,000 times larger than our Sun's largest flares, which can engulf a planet in ultraviolet light, thereby eliminating any possibility of life.
Researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill initially measured the temperatures of a vast sample of super flares from various stars and predicted the probable ultraviolet emissions.
Published in the Astrophysical Journal, their findings will enable scientists to determine the habitability of planets targeted in upcoming exoplanet search missions.
Ward S. Howard, the study's lead author and a doctoral student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UNC-Chapel Hill, stated, "We found that planets orbiting young stars can experience levels of UV radiation that prevent life, although some microorganisms might survive."
Using the UNC-Chapel Hill Evryscope telescope array and NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), Howard and his colleagues simultaneously observed the largest sample of super flares.
Their research builds upon previous studies that primarily focused on the flare temperatures and radiation of a limited number of super flares from a few stars.
By expanding the research scope, the team uncovered a correlation between a super flare's size and temperature, which predicts the extent of radiation that could inhibit life on a planet's surface.
These super flares emit most of their UV radiation during a rapid peak lasting only five to 15 minutes. The Evryscope and TESS Space Telescope captured simultaneous observations at two-minute intervals, ensuring multiple measurements during each super flare's peak.
This groundbreaking study marked the first time such a comprehensive sample of super flares has been examined. The frequency of observations allowed the researchers to determine the duration of intense UV radiation exposure on orbiting planets during super flares.
The observed flares have already informed the TESS Extended Mission, which aims to discover thousands of exoplanets orbiting the brightest dwarf stars. TESS is now targeting high-priority flare-producing stars in the UNC-Chapel Hill sample for more frequent observations.
"In the long term, these results could inform the selection of planetary systems to be observed by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope based on the system's flare activity," notes study co-author Nicholas M. Law, associate professor of physics and astronomy at UNC-Chapel Hill and principal investigator of the Evryscope telescope.
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