Stars with superpowered magnetic fields could narrow the search for alien life

By Robert Lea published about 20 hours ago

"Stars experiencing this enhanced magnetism are likely going to be battering their planets with high-energy radiation.



An illustration shows a small star bursting with activity, including sunspots and flares caused by magnetic fields. (Image credit: Mark A. Garlick )

Astronomers have discovered evidence of small stars with shockingly strong magnetic fields that might not be ideal hosts for habitable worlds. The findings could reveal a strange stellar evolution process and teach scientists more about such common, but mysterious, cosmic bodies.

This new research suggests unexpectedly intense magnetic fields arise around cool, small stars when the surfaces and interiors of those stars start out by rotating at the same speed but, over time, drift apart and spin out of sync. The team behind the study calls that internal mechanism core-envelope decoupling, a process that could ultimately impact our search for life elsewhere in the Milky Way.

"Stellar physics can have surprising implications for other fields," Lyra Cao, team lead and an astronomy graduate student at Ohio State University, said in a statement. "Stars experiencing this enhanced magnetism are likely going to be battering their planets with high-energy radiation. This effect is predicted to last for billions of years on some stars, so it’s important to understand what it might do to our ideas of habitability."

That radiation could roast nearby planets, potentially boil away their liquid water, prevent complex molecules from forming and thus inhibit key ingredients for life.

More:
https://www.space.com/stars-with-superpowered-magnetic-fields-narrow-search-alien-life