EV Lacertae

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EV Lacertae is a faint red dwarf star 16.5 light years away in the constellation Lacerta. It is the nearest star to the Sun in that region of the sky, although with an apparent magnitude of 10, it is only barely visible with binoculars.

On 25 April 2008, NASA's Swift satellite picked up a record-setting flare from EV Lacertae^[1]. This flare was thousands of times more powerful than the largest observed solar flare. Because EV Lacertae is much farther from Earth than the sun, the flare did not appear as bright as a solar flare. The flare would have been visible to the naked eye, if the star had been in an observable part of the night sky at the time. It was the brightest flare ever seen from a star other than the Sun.

EV Lacertae is much younger than our Sun, and still spinning rapidly. The fast spin, together with its convective interior, produces a magnetic field that is much more powerful than the Sun's. This strong magnetic field is believed to play a role in the star's ability to produce such bright flares.

[edit] External Links

• NASA - Pipsqueak Star Unleashes Monster Flare