Chandra Release - October 30, 2020

Visual Description: GJ 699

The graphic features an artist's illustration in the main panel and a plot of X-ray data as in an inset to the lower left. The illustration of Barnard's Star shows a large, brightly glowing and active red dwarf star, which is depicted in shades of yellow and red-orange. On the left side of the illustration, there is a smaller, dimmer object that resembles a comet. This object is a planet like Jupiter and is depicted in shades of beige with a blue and white haze as a tail trails behind it. Barnard's Star was used as a case study to learn how flares from an old red dwarf might affect any planets orbiting it. Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of Barnard's Star taken in June 2019 uncovered one X-ray flare (shown as a peak in the inset plot). Hubble observations taken in March 2019 revealed two ultraviolet high-energy flares (not shown). Both observations were about seven hours long and both plots show X-ray or ultraviolet brightness extending down to zero. At its age of 10 billion years old, Barnard's Star is still very active and potentially destructive for the atmospheres of any planets orbiting around it.