Artist’s impression of a coronal mass ejection in a star
Olena Shumahalo/Collingham et al.
Astronomers have successfully identified the first clear evidence of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from a star outside of our solar system. This CME, a plasma cloud from a star located 130 light-years away, was observed using radio telescopes here on Earth.
Coronal mass ejections happen when solar storms propel bubbles of magnetized plasma into space. While such eruptions from our Sun can create auroras on Earth, they can also be powerful enough to disrupt the atmosphere of Venus, which lacks a protective magnetic field.
For decades, scientists have detected signs of CMEs in far-off stars, but until now, they were unable to confirm that this material truly escapes the star’s gravitational and magnetic grip, rather than simply being temporarily displaced and then drawn back in.
Joseph Cullingham and his team at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy discovered these emissions utilizing the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope. The bursts, or radio waves, emitted by CMEs can only be captured when the ejection travels fully away from its origin, which is StKM 1-1262.
This research group also employed the XMM-Newton space-based X-ray telescope to assess the temperature, rotation, and luminosity of the host star.
Cullingham emphasized that this new evidence conclusively affirms prior speculations that CMEs indeed occur in distant stars. “Some will say we’ve seen indications for the last 30 years, and they’re right, but we’ve never been able to prove it definitively,” he remarked. “We are discussing mass being expelled and lost from the star, which has been a topic of ongoing debate.”
The radiation from these ejecta could pose a significant threat to potential life forms nearby. According to researcher Anthony Yates from Durham University in the UK, it is crucial to integrate insights on the frequency and intensity of CMEs from distant stars into models assessing the habitability of exoplanets. “If exoplanets were to exist, the repercussions for life there could be devastating,” he added.
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Planetary researchers, utilizing data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, have identified a novel type of plasma wave in the Aurora Zone above Jupiter’s North Pole.
This image merges observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope with optical images and ultraviolet observations of Jovian Aurora. Image credit: NASA/ESA.
“While the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has supplied some infrared images of the Aurora, Juno is unique as the first spacecraft to take a polar orbit around Jupiter,” stated Dr. Ali Suleiman from the University of Minnesota.
“The regions surrounding a magnetized planet like Jupiter are filled with plasma, a superheated state where atoms dissociate into electrons and ions.”
“These particles are propelled towards the planet’s atmosphere, causing the gas to illuminate as auroras.”
“On Earth, this phenomenon manifests as the recognizable green and blue lights.”
“However, Jupiter’s auroras are generally not visible to the naked eye and require UV and infrared instruments for observation.”
The research team discovered that the polar plasma density on Jupiter is so low, in combination with its strong magnetic field, that the plasma waves exhibit very low frequencies, unlike those observed around Earth.
“Plasma behaves like a liquid but is influenced by both its own magnetic field and external fields,” remarked Professor Robert Rysack from the University of Minnesota.
“Our study also sheds light on how particles inundate the polar regions, in contrast to Earth, where Jupiter’s intricate magnetic fields give rise to auroras arranged in a donut-like pattern around the poles.”
“As Juno advances its mission to further investigate this new phenomenon, we aim to collect additional data.”
The team’s findings were published in the journal on July 16th, 2025, in Physical Review Letters.
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R. Lysak et al. 2025. A new plasma regime in Jupiter’s Aurora Zone. Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 035201; doi:10.1103/fn63-qmb7
Jupiter’s surrounding space is among the most unique in our solar system, and the plasma present is equally remarkable, exhibiting unprecedented wave patterns.
Robert Lysak, from the University of Minnesota, explores Aurora phenomena. These captivating displays of green and blue light on Earth are accompanied by nearly undetectable ultraviolet rays near Jupiter’s poles.
To comprehend the auroras on this distant planet, it’s vital to grasp the intricacies of the plasma that generates these lights—a mix of charged particles and atomic components that envelopes the planet. Insights gathered from NASA’s Juno spacecraft have led Lysak and his team to identify that Jupiter’s Auroral Plasma resonates with a novel type of wave.
This newly identified wave is a combination of two well-characterized types of plasma waves: the Alfven wave, which arises from the motion of charged particles, and the Langmuir wave, which corresponds to electron movement. Lysak points out that since electrons are much lighter than charged particles, these two kinds of waves typically oscillate at vastly different frequencies.
However, the environment near Jupiter’s poles possesses conditions ideal for both waves to oscillate together. This is enabled by the low density of the plasma in that region and the strong magnetic field exerted by the planet.
“The plasma characteristics observed are truly unique when compared to those in other parts of our solar system,” states John Leif Jorgensen at the Institute of Technology Denmark. With Juno’s data uncovering new wave patterns, he believes we can learn more about the magnetic attributes of distant exoplanets by looking for similar signals.
Juno is currently in orbit around Jupiter, with Lysak noting that if its mission is extended, it could provide unparalleled insights into the giant planet and its complexities. This mission, however, is one among several that may face cuts due to proposed NASA budget reductions.
“Discontinuing missions while they are yielding valuable data would be a significant setback for our field,” concludes Lysak.
Scientists have discovered a new instability in plasma, revolutionizing our understanding of cosmic rays. This groundbreaking discovery reveals that cosmic rays generate electromagnetic waves within plasma and influence their paths. This collective behavior of cosmic rays, similar to waves formed by water molecules, challenges previous theories and holds promise for insights into intragalactic cosmic ray transport and its role in galaxy evolution. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Scientists at the Potsdam Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics (AIP) have discovered a new substance. plasma This instability is expected to revolutionize our understanding of the origin of cosmic rays and their dynamic impact on galaxies.
At the beginning of the last century, Victor Hess discovered a new phenomenon called cosmic rays, for which he was later awarded the Nobel Prize. He conducted high-altitude balloon flights and discovered that the Earth’s atmosphere was not ionized by ground radiation. Instead, he confirmed that the origin of ionization was extraterrestrial. Later, it was discovered that cosmic “rays” are composed of charged particles that travel from space at speeds close to the speed of light. radiation. However, the name “cosmic rays” outlasted these discoveries.
Recent advances in cosmic ray research
In the new study, AIP scientist and lead author of the study, Dr. Mohammad Shalaby, and his collaborators performed numerical simulations to trace the trajectories of many cosmic ray particles, showing that these particles We studied how the plasma interacts with the surrounding plasma, which is made up of electrons and electrons. proton.
Simulation of cosmic rays flowing in the opposite direction to the background plasma and causing plasma instability. The distribution of background particles in response to streaming cosmic rays is shown in phase space spanned by the particle’s position (horizontal axis) and velocity (vertical axis). Color visualizes number density, and holes in phase space represent the highly dynamic nature of instabilities that break up ordered motion into random motion. Credit: Shalaby/AIP
When researchers studied cosmic rays flying from one side of the simulation to the other, they discovered a new phenomenon that excites electromagnetic waves in the background plasma. These waves exert a force on the cosmic rays, causing them to change their meandering paths.
Understanding cosmic rays as a collective phenomenon
Most importantly, this new phenomenon is best understood if we think of cosmic rays as supporting collective electromagnetic waves rather than acting as individual particles. When these waves interact with the background fundamental waves, they are strongly amplified and a transfer of energy occurs.
“This insight allows us to think of cosmic rays in this context as behaving more like radiation than individual particles, as Victor Hess originally believed,” said AIP Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics. says Professor Christoph Pfrommer, head of the section. .
Momentum distribution of protons (dashed lines) and electrons (solid lines). The appearance of a high-energy electron tail in a slowly moving shock is shown. This is the result of interactions with electromagnetic waves caused by newly discovered plasma instabilities (red) that are absent from faster shocks (black). This shows the importance of understanding the physics of the acceleration process, since only high-energy electrons produce observable radio radiation. Credit: Shalaby/AIP
A good analogy for this behavior is that individual water molecules come together to form waves that break on the shore. “This progress was only made possible by taking into account smaller scales, which had been overlooked until now and called into question the use of effective fluid dynamics theory when studying plasma processes,” explains Dr. Mohammad Shalaby. To do.
Meaning and application
This newly discovered plasma instability has many applications, including the first study of how electrons from thermal interstellar plasma are accelerated to high energies in supernova remnants. It also includes an explanation.
“This newly discovered plasma instability represents a major advance in our understanding of acceleration processes and finally explains why these supernova remnants glow in radio waves and gamma rays.” Mohammad Shalaby reports.
Moreover, this breakthrough opens the door to a deeper understanding of the fundamental processes of cosmic ray transport in galaxies. This represents the biggest mystery in understanding the processes that form galaxies during the evolution of the universe.
References:
“Deciphering the physical basis of mesoscale instability” by Mohammad Shalaby, Timon Thomas, Christoph Pfrommer, Reuven Lemmerz, and Virginia Bresci, December 12, 2023, Plasma Physics Journal. DOI: 10.1017/S0022377823001289
“Mechanism of efficient electron acceleration in parallel non-relativistic shocks” by Mohammad Shalaby, Reuven Lemmerz, Timon Thomas, and Christoph Pfromer, May 4, 2022, Astrophysics > High-energy astrophysical phenomena. arXiv:2202.05288
“New Cosmic Ray Instabilities” by Mohammad Shalaby, Timon Thomas, and Christoph Pfrommer, February 24, 2021, of astrophysical journal. DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abd02d
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