Cool, Dim, Dwarf Star is a Powerhouse That May Help in the Search for Life

First Posted: Nov 19, 2015 03:15 PM EST

A cool, dim dwarf star is actually a magnetic powerhouse. Scientists have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 9ALMA) and have found that a cool star actually has a surprisingly powerful magnetic field, revealing a bit more about star formation.

"If we lived around a star like this one, we wouldn't have any satellite communications," said Peter Williams, lead author of the new study, in a news release. "In fact, it might be extremely difficult for life to evolve at all in such a stormy environment."

In this latest study, the researchers used ALMA to study the well-known red dwarf star TVLM 513-46546, which is located about 35 light-years from Earth in the constellation Bootes. The star is just 10 percent the mass of the sun, and is so small and cool that it's right on the dividing line between stars and brown dwarfs. However, this star spins rapidly and also has an extraordinary magnetic field.

So what is this magnetic field from? The researchers believe that it could be due to a constant flurry of solar-flare-like eruptions. As with our sun, these flares would trace tightly wound magnetic field lines that act like cosmic particle accelerators, warping the path of electrons and causing them to emit telltale radio signals that can be detected with ALMA.

The findings have important implications for the search for habitable planets outside the Solar system. Red dwarfs, such as this dwarf, are the most common type of star in our galaxy, which makes them promising targets for planet searches. Because this one is so cool, though, a planet would have to orbit closely-and would be right in the bulls-eye for the star's radiation.

The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal.

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TagsDwarf Planet, star