An international team led by ASTRON and the Observatoire de Paris-PSL has observed the first definitive radio signal of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from a star beyond our Solar System. The eruption was detected from a nearby red dwarf star just 130 light-years away using the LOFAR radio telescope.
Such stellar storms, similar to CMEs on the Sun, could have devastating effects on any orbiting planets, stripping away atmospheric protection and affecting habitability. This discovery provides the first direct evidence of extreme space weather around other stars and highlights the challenges for planets orbiting common red dwarf stars. The finding was made during the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey and is published in Nature: DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09715-3
Read the full ASTRON press release.
Image: This artist’s impression shows a coronal mass ejection, or CME, around a nearby star. During a CME, massive amounts of material are flung out from our star, flooding the surrounding space. These dramatic expulsions shape and drive space weather, such as the dazzling auroras we see on Earth, and can chip away at the atmospheres of any nearby planets. Astronomers using the LOFAR radio telescope have now definitively spotted a CME around another star for the first time. The explosive burst of material would be powerful enough to have a devastating impact on the atmosphere of any unlucky planet in its path. (Credit: Olena Shmahalo/Callingham et al.)