In fact, coronal mass ejection is a very common phenomenon in the solar system. It is another form of energy released by the sun, which can also be said to be a big explosion of plasma in the upper atmosphere of the sun, which is released into the solar wind. They usually occur about three times a day at the peak of solar activity (the normal time when solar activity reaches its maximum).
The size of CME may be very different: an international team of astronomers found a huge CME in a star system a little more than 100 light years away (far larger than the largest CME observed on a sun-like star).
This observation is a wake-up call for us, because scientists believe that our sun is also capable of such dangerous activities. In addition, the research team believes that it is precisely because the sun has had similar eruptions in the past that it has shaped the face of the earth and Mars today!
In their research, astronomers discovered a star named Draco. As a G-type main sequence star (a star with a spectral type of G). The spectrum is characterized by strong H and K lines in ionized calcium, which is strikingly similar to our sun. However,/kloc-0.0 billion years ago, EK was much younger than our sun 4.6 billion years ago. As a "young version" of the sun, it provides astronomers with an excellent opportunity to gain insight into the young age of the sun.
In the spring and winter of 2020, the team used NASA's transit exoplanet survey satellite and Kyoto University's Amy telescope to track the star for more than 30 nights. On April 5, in a very accidental observation, they witnessed a fierce cosmic fireworks display. EK Draconis star produced an unprecedented violent CME, during which a lot of energy and charged particles were released. Although the research team can only capture the initial stage of CME, the speed of hot plasma cloud reaches 6 10 km per second.
This CME is also quite unique in quality, because its mass is as high as one trillion kilograms, which is ten times higher than the most powerful coronal mass ejection observed from the G-type main sequence star.
According to one of the authors, Yuta Notsu, coronal mass ejections of this scale may also occur in our solar system. The team's findings may help us to further understand these types of events, which may have affected Mars and the Earth in the past billions of years.
Fortunately, observations so far and new research show that our sun may be relatively calm on the Buron. For example, a research paper published in the Journal of Astrophysics on 20 19 shows that young sun-like stars in the Milky Way seem to have experienced regular supernovae similar to solar flares in the solar system, but the intensity is dozens or even hundreds of times that of the solar system.
Nevertheless, scientists say that superstars and subsequent CME can still occur in our system, but they will not happen often. The research team estimates that this happens only once every few thousand years.
Yuta Nosu said that when our solar system was still in infancy, giant coronal mass ejections might be more common. In fact: "Compared with the Earth, the atmosphere of Mars is very thin now," Yuta Nosu said. "In the past, we thought that the atmosphere of Mars was much thicker. Coronal mass ejections may help us understand what has happened to Mars for billions of years. "
In short, the early superstar CME may have played an important role in shaping Mars and Earth into planets as we know them. We suspect that future research will reveal many secrets of the early solar system.
Possible eruption filaments detected from super flares on solar stars (Nature Astronomy)
Baidu Encyclopedia-Coronal Mass Ejection Entry