[alfa015 (OP)]

Hi guys, I hope you are doing well

So.. the other day I read that Proxima Centauri released a huge flare last year, decreasing the chances of existing life in Proxima b

What do you think about it? I also read that the flare lasted 2 minutes.. what if the flare happened in the part of the star that was not facing Proxima b? Proxima Centauri rotates every 82 days.. I think that maybe the flare might have been released on the oposite side towards empty space (or other exoplanets)

I recently made a new video on the top 5 potentially habitable exoplanets closest to Earth in 2018 (here it is: <spam link to personal youtube channel removed> in which I included Proxima b because it is still considered the one with the highest earth similarity index. Do you think that Proxima b should not be considered a potentially habitable exoplanet anymore? Should the target of the Starshot project be changed?

[Colin2B]

The observers seem to think that there is a good chance it was blasted. Apparently not an unusual occurance.
Probably still worth a flyby for data collection.

[alfa015 (OP)]

The observers seem to think that there is a good chance it was blasted. Apparently not an unusual occurance.
Probably still worth a flyby for data collection.

indeed, i agree with you, active flare stars are a problem, but i think that if proxima b had a magnetic field stronger than earth, those flares wouldn't be much of a problem

[chiralSPO]

if proxima b had a magnetic field stronger than earth

That's a big IF!

[Bored chemist]

So.. the other day I read that Proxima Centauri released a huge flare last year,

How did you hear that?
In particular, how did you hear roughly 3 years before any message could have reached us from a star 4 light years away?

[Kryptid]

If there are microbes on that planet living miles underground (similar to Bacillus infernus, for example), I don't think they would have been harmed at all. So strictly speaking, flares wouldn't necessarily make it uninhabitable for all forms of life.

[jeffreyH]

I would imagine the meaning intended was the flare was detected last year. I think the important part of the thread is that the flare actually happened.