Inside the Search for Life on ‘Nearby’ Proxima b
Aurorae aside, Proxima b’s severe space weather doesn’t create the prettiest of pictures, at least to human eyes. “We’ve seen 10 huge flares over the span of a few weeks time,” said Matthews. “We estimate the star has flares which we would consider major flares on the sun two or three times a day. Even at its quietest it’s still pretty loud.”
That’s just what occurred while MOST happened to be looking. The team’s statistical , led by James Davenport of Western Washington University, suggests that superflares 10 times stronger than anything ever observed on our sun would be produced eight times a year. To make matters worse, Proxima b has a front row seat, 20 times closer to its sun than we are to ours.