Japanese astronomers have identified a “superflare” on a distant star that is 20 times more powerful than anything ever observed on our Sun. The star is known as AD Leonis, a red dwarf that is cooler than our Sun and has more flares, and is roughly 16 light-years from Earth. Scientists started studying the star as flares on our Sun are rare, so by looking out into the cosmos, they can examine solar flares with more consistency. Using the 3.8m Seimei Telescope, astronomers have spotted 12 flares, one of the flares was 20 times more powerful than anything ever spotted on our Sun. The findings could have major implications for the possibility of alien life elsewhere in the universe.
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