The Magnetic Nature of a Mysterious Cosmic X-ray Emitter
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Copyright M. M. Jardine and J. F. Donati.
Our Sun has its explosive flares and spots and high speed wind, but it is a placid star compared to some. Stars that are much more massive live fast and die young, with blue-white, intensely hot surfaces that emit energy at a rate millions of times greater than that of the Sun. These stars are so bright that their light alone propels outflowing stellar winds - up to a billion times stronger than the solar wind - at speeds of up to 30,000 km/s, or one per cent of the speed of light.
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