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Normal Stars

Similar explosive conditions can also be found in young stars. They have turbulent interiors because nuclear reactions have only recently begun and the star has yet to settle down to accommodate the flow of energy from the interior. They also rotate rapidly--over the years they will slow down due to the outflow of gas from their surface. Chandra X-ray images of clusters of young (meaning less than a few million years old!) stars such as the Orion and rho Ophiuchi star clusters show that young stars have hot, violently active coronas. These young stars produce a thousand times more X-rays than the Sun.
Orion Nebula
Chandra's remarkable X-ray view of the Orion Nebula, one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth.
This raises an intriguing question. Did the Sun produce a thousand times more X-rays when it was young? If so, how did this affect the evolution and chemistry of the atmosphere of the Earth? X-ray observations of young stars should give us insight into the conditions under which life formed on Earth.

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