Astronomy Down Under

Flare in EV Lacertae

20 May at 22:58 by Wilson

One of the most important events in Greg Egan’s novel Diaspora happens when a pair of neutron stars in the constellation Lacerta collide, sending out a powerful gamma ray burst and causing the extinction of most life on Earth. I was reminded of that while reading, earlier today, about an unassuming, small red dwarf star in that constellation sending out a massive flare, thousands of times more strong than the ones our Sun sends out every now and then.

There’s no risk to us, of course, and Phil Plait does a much better job than I would be able to of telling the whole story; go there, it’s an excellent read.

Still, that’s one more way the universe can kill us all… (and I guess I’ll go reread Greg Egan’s novels…)