From Plasma Physics on Stars to Space Weather on Other Worlds: Why We Need to Understand Stars to Find the Next Earth

Rachel Osten

Space Telescope Science Institute

While it has long been known that stars can produce flaring eruptions, their detailed study had been relegated to a few types of stars considered atypical of potential solar system (and life-bearing planet) hosts. I will review multi-wavelength evidence from stellar studies which cements a physical connection with solar flare processes, describe where our understanding falls short, and discuss the astrobiological implications. Next I will describe recent results on stellar flares which probe the extremities of these events and discuss how these can be used to give context to processes bounding solar flare properties. Finally I will discuss how these studies can give insight into space weather on other worlds, as astronomers expand the realm of potentially habitable worlds, and circle back to why we need to understand stars to have a hope of finding the next Earth.

Date:	Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Time:	15:30
Where:	McGill University
	Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103)