(Press-News.org) A groundbreaking study has revealed that red dwarf stars can produce stellar flares that carry far-ultraviolet (far-UV) radiation levels much higher than previously believed. This discovery suggests that the intense UV radiation from these flares could significantly impact whether planets around red dwarf stars can be habitable. Led by current and former astronomers from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA), the research was recently published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
“Few stars have been thought to generate enough UV radiation through flares to impact planet habitability. Our findings show that many more stars may have this capability,” said astronomer Vera Berger, who undertook the study while in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at IfA, an initiative supported by the National Science Foundation.
Berger and her team used archival data from the GALEX space telescope to search for flares among 300,000 nearby stars. GALEX is a now-decommissioned NASA mission that simultaneously observed most of the sky at near-and far-UV wavelengths from 2003 to 2013. Using new computational techniques, the team mined novel insights from the data.
“Combining modern computer power with gigabytes of decades-old observations allowed us to search for flares on thousands and thousands of nearby stars,” said Michael Tucker, a PhD graduate of IfA and now a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University.
UV’s double edge
According to researchers, UV radiation from stellar flares can either erode planetary atmospheres, threatening their potential to support life, or contribute to the formation of RNA building blocks, which are essential for the creation of life.
This study challenges existing models of stellar flares and exoplanet habitability, showing that far-UV emission from flares is on average three times more energetic than typically assumed, and can reach up to twelve times the expected energy levels.
“A change of three is the same as the difference in UV in the summer from Anchorage, Alaska to Honolulu, where unprotected skin can get a sunburn in less than 10 minutes,” said Benjamin J. Shappee, an Associate Astronomer at IfA who mentored Berger.
Hidden causes
The exact cause of this stronger far-UV emission remains unclear. The team believes it might be that flare radiation is concentrated at specific wavelengths, indicating the presence of atoms like carbon and nitrogen.
“This study has changed the picture of the environments around stars less massive than our Sun, which emit very little UV light outside of flares,” said Jason Hinkle, a PhD candidate at IfA who co-authored the study.
According to Berger, now a Churchill Scholar at the University of Cambridge, more data from space telescopes is needed to study the UV light from stars, which is crucial for understanding the source of this emission.
END
UH astronomers uncover risks to planets that could host life
2024-08-05
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
An overlooked side-effect of the housing crisis may be putting Californians at increased risk from climate disasters
2024-08-05
In a new article for the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UC Santa Cruz researchers laid out the foundation for their highly-anticipated upcoming study of how lack of affordable housing in urban areas of California may be driving increased development in and near wildlands, leading to more severe climate change impacts.
Since the 1990s, California has led the nation in the growth of Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) development, with more than one in three households in the state now located immediately next to or within ...
INT-1B3 miR-193a-3p mimic boosts t cell immunity and induces tumor cell death
2024-08-05
BUFFALO, NY- August 5, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on July 12, 2024, entitled, “INT-1B3, an LNP formulated miR-193a-3p mimic, promotes anti-tumor immunity by enhancing T cell mediated immune responses via modulation of the tumor microenvironment and induction of immunogenic cell death.”
In this study, researchers Chantal L. Duurland, Thijs de Gunst, Harm C. den Boer, Marion T.J. van den Bosch, Bryony J. Telford, Rogier M. Vos, Xiaolei Xie, Mingfa Zang, Fang Wang, Yingying Shao, Xiaoyu ...
Wayne State University professor receives NSF grant to study quantum tunneling
2024-08-05
DETROIT — A Wayne State University professor recently received a three-year, $626,467 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Physics. The project, “Probing Nonadiabatic Strong Field Ionization with Phase-Resolved Attoclock,” will research a quantum mechanical process known as quantum tunneling.
Wen Li, Ph.D., professor of chemistry in Wayne State’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and his research team propose a new technique they have developed to study the process of quantum tunneling, a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which an object such as an electron or atom passes through ...
Adding metastasis-directed radiation therapy boosts progression-free survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer
2024-08-05
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated that adding metastasis-directed radiation therapy to standard-of-care chemotherapy improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with oligometastatic pancreatic cancer. Findings from the multicenter EXTEND trial, published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, were first presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
At a median follow-up of 17.3 months, PFS was 10.3 months in patients who received metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) ...
New method tracks how psychedelics affect neurons in minutes
2024-08-05
Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a rapid, noninvasive tool to track the neurons and biomolecules activated in the brain by psychedelic drugs. The protein-based tool, which is called Ca2+-activated Split-TurboID, or CaST, is described in research published in Nature Methods.
There has been mounting interest in the value of psychedelic-inspired compounds as treatments for brain disorders including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder. Psychedelic ...
Record number of drug overdoses in one year reported
2024-08-05
August 4, 2024-- Drug-involved overdose deaths increased by over 500 percent in 2022 according to a study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, with trends attributed to synthetic opioids. National data shows that fentanyl and heroin in particular attributed substantially to the rise particularly since 2014. However, the study also reports that income protection policies, can have a supportive role in preventing fatal drug overdoses. The findings are reported in the International ...
Could this new drug turn back the clock on multiple sclerosis?
2024-08-05
Could This New Drug Turn Back the Clock on Multiple Sclerosis?
Ten years of work, and a little help from the green mamba snake, has resulted in a promising new drug that is already being tested in clinical trials.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) degrades the protective insulation around nerve cells, leaving their axons, which carry electrical impulses, exposed like bare wires. This can cause devastating problems with movement, balance and vision; and without treatment, it can lead to paralysis, loss of independence and a shortened lifespan.
Now, scientists at UC San Francisco and Contineum Therapeutics have developed a drug that spurs the body to replace the lost insulation, ...
Greenland fossil discovery reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe
2024-08-05
The story of Greenland keeps getting greener—and scarier.
A new study provides the first direct evidence that the center—not just the edges—of Greenland’s ice sheet melted away in the recent geological past and the now-ice-covered island was then home to a green, tundra landscape.
A team of scientists re-examined a few inches of sediment from the bottom of a two-mile-deep ice core extracted at the very center of Greenland in 1993—and held for 30 years in a Colorado storage facility. They were amazed to discover ...
New biomaterial regrows damaged cartilage in joints
2024-08-05
Northwestern University scientists have developed a new bioactive material that successfully regenerated high-quality cartilage in the knee joints of a large-animal model.
Although it looks like a rubbery goo, the material is actually a complex network of molecular components, which work together to mimic cartilage’s natural environment in the body.
In the new study, the researchers applied the material to damaged cartilage in the animals’ knee joints. Within just six months, the researchers observed evidence of enhanced repair, including ...
Horse miscarriages offer clues to causes of early human pregnancy loss
2024-08-05
ITHACA, N.Y. – A study of horses – which share many important similarities with humans in their chromosomes and pregnancies – revealed that 42% of miscarriages and spontaneous abortions in the first two months of pregnancy were due to complications from an extra set of chromosomes, a condition called triploidy.
“Over that embryonic period [up to eight weeks from conception], triploidy had rarely been reported in mammals outside of women,” said Mandi de Mestre, professor of equine medicine at Cornell University. “The study tells us that over the first six weeks ...