. Scientists from the University of Warwick, England stated that most Earth-like exoplanets have likely become inhabitable because of the large amounts of radiation released from superflares. Exoplanets are planets that orbit a star outside the Solar System. Their findings were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Kepler -438b’s atmosphere, confirmed by NASA on 6 January as an exoplanet, 2015, was believed to be completely destroyed due to radiation from Kepler -438,, a Red Dwarf Star. Kepler -438b compared to its parent star Kepler -438. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick/University of Warwick. What is a superflare? These superflares, which are powerful blasts seen on stars that look like solar-like planets, have an energy production rate one million times higher than a solar flare. Superflares occur about every 100 days and are approximately ten times as powerful as any recorded solar flare. They also produce energy equivalent to 100 trillion megatons TNT. Kepler -438. is not believed to have been affected by the superflares. CMA (coronal Mass ejection) is a potentially dangerous phenomena that can be linked to powerful flares. It can destroy any atmosphere, making it unsuitable for life. Kepler -438 has the Earth Similarity Index of the best exoplanets we have found. It is most like our planet in size and temperature. It is however closer to its star, the Red Dwarf than to us. The Red Dwarf star is small, but relatively cool. The university’s Astrophysics Group’s Dr. David Armstrong is the team leader. He explained that Kepler -438 produces strong flares about every 100 days. Each flare is stronger than any recorded Sun flare. These flares could be associated with coronal masses ejections which can have severe damaging effects on planet’s habitability. If it doesn’t, or the flares reach a strong enough level, the planet could lose its atmosphere and become irradiated with extra harmful radiation. Although flares do not have any significant effect on the atmosphere, there’s another dangerous phenomenon that can occur when powerful flares hit. This is called a coronal Mass Ejection. Coronal mass eruptions are more likely to occur when there is a strong flare. Large coronal mass-ejections can also cause damage to the atmosphere of close-in planets like Kepler b. D. J. Armstrong and C. E. Pugh (A.-M. Broomhall), D. J. A. Brown, M. N. Lund, H. P. Osborn, D. L. Pollacco. arXiv: 1511. 05306 [astro-ph.EP]. Video – Kepler -438 b
