If humamoids lived around a flare red dwarf, would the flare kill them?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the potential effects of stellar flares from red dwarf stars on hypothetical humanoid life forms living on Earth-like planets within such systems. Participants explore the implications of these flares on habitability, particularly focusing on temperature spikes and atmospheric erosion over time.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that while red dwarf flares are survivable in the short term, the long-term effects could be detrimental, particularly regarding atmospheric erosion due to repeated flares.
  • There is a suggestion that X-ray flare fluxes could be deadly outside of an atmosphere but are effectively blocked from reaching the surface.
  • One participant emphasizes that humanoids, as a concept, could be considered analogous to humans if they possess similar robustness and intelligence to adapt to their environment.
  • Another participant argues that if intelligent life evolved under variable stellar conditions, such organisms would likely have developed adaptations to protect themselves from solar flares.
  • There is a mention of the possibility of conducting experiments to test analog systems, such as using Jupiter and its moons, to explore the potential for life in similar conditions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the viability of humanoid life around red dwarf stars, with some focusing on the survivability of flares and others questioning the relevance of discussing fictional humanoids. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specific adaptations that such life forms might have.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include assumptions about the adaptability of humanoids to extreme conditions and the speculative nature of the discussion regarding life in hypothetical systems.

swampwiz
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I was reading about how red dwarf stars are typically flare stars. So if there were humanoids that were like us on an Earth-like planet in a such red dwarf system - i.e., and were accustomed to the temperature of Earth, etc. - would the flare heat up the planet to be too hot for life? Alternatively, this question could be stated "if the Earth were somehow hyperspaced into an orbit around such a red dwarf system such that it had the same temperature as Earth has around Sol, would the flares cause the temperature to spike enough to kill us".
 
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swampwiz said:
I was reading about how red dwarf stars are typically flare stars. So if there were humanoids that were like us on an Earth-like planet in a such red dwarf system - i.e., and were accustomed to the temperature of Earth, etc. - would the flare heat up the planet to be too hot for life? Alternatively, this question could be stated "if the Earth were somehow hyperspaced into an orbit around such a red dwarf system such that it had the same temperature as Earth has around Sol, would the flares cause the temperature to spike enough to kill us".
Basically, red dwarf flares are survivable in short term. X-ray flare fluxes are deadly outside of atmosphere, but are effectively blocked before reaching surface.
The habitability concerns are are mostly about long-term effect - i.e. atmosphere erosion. Planets orbiting flare stars (most notably potentially habitable planets in Teegarten system) may lose even dense atmospheres on the timescales of less than billion years, because of impulse heating of upper layers by repeating flares.
 
We can discuss the effect on humans, which are real, but not on "humanoids" which are fictional,
 
Vanadium 50 said:
We can discuss the effect on humans, which are real, but not on "humanoids" which are fictional,
Well, by "humanoid" I meant some creature that is accustomed to conditions on Earth, had the sam elevel of corporeal robustness, and that had the intelligence to do things to mitigate the situation. For all intents & purposes, these humanoids could be considered humans.
 
I should say that I believe that "we are not alone".
 
swampwiz said:
I should say that I believe that "we are not alone".
This implies that life evolved on this hypothetical system including:
swampwiz said:
Well, by "humanoid" I meant some creature that is accustomed to conditions on Earth, had the same level of corporeal robustness, and that had the intelligence to do things to mitigate the situation. For all intents & purposes, these humanoids could be considered humans. [edit: corrected typo]
If intelligent life evolved and thrived under a variable star; such organisms, ipso facto, would be adapted to local conditions with appropriate protections from solar flares such as developing under atmosphere, underground, underwater, etc.

While this thread of reasoning approaches speculation, we humans should be able to test an analogue system in a reasonable length of time by conducting experiments substituting Jupiter for the red dwarf star and sampling plumes from Europa and similar satellites to detect life.

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/europa/in-depth/#potential_for_life_otp
 

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