Kyle Sooley-Brookings

Jun 6, 20191 min

Chandra Detects a Coronal Mass Ejection From Another Star

This "extrasolar" CME was seen emanating from a star called HR 9024, which is located about 450 light years from Earth.

This represents the first time that researchers have thoroughly identified and characterized a CME from a star other than our Sun.

This event was marked by an intense flash of X-rays followed by the emission of a giant bubble of plasma, i.e., hot gas containing charged particles.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a Flagship-class space telescope launched on STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999.

Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors.