Star seen to have ups and downs
May. 12th, 2004 02:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingAstronomers may have found a star that has a similar "heartbeat" of activity to that seen on our own Sun.
On the Sun, there is an 11-year cycle to the rise and fall in the numbers of sunspots and in the amount of intense radiation released into space.
It is this huge fluctuation in X-rays that has now been recorded coming from a star given the designation HD 81809.
The observations were made in orbit with the XMM-Newton telescope which is operated by the European Space Agency
Understanding our Sun's 11-year activity cycle is important because of the effects it can have on the Earth's global climate.
When sunspots disappeared from our star in the 17th Century, the Earth chilled a little, showing that the Sun has a profound influence on climate, both directly and indirectly.
Scientists would like to understand when this might happen again
On the Sun, there is an 11-year cycle to the rise and fall in the numbers of sunspots and in the amount of intense radiation released into space.
It is this huge fluctuation in X-rays that has now been recorded coming from a star given the designation HD 81809.
The observations were made in orbit with the XMM-Newton telescope which is operated by the European Space Agency
Understanding our Sun's 11-year activity cycle is important because of the effects it can have on the Earth's global climate.
When sunspots disappeared from our star in the 17th Century, the Earth chilled a little, showing that the Sun has a profound influence on climate, both directly and indirectly.
Scientists would like to understand when this might happen again