One of the threats to modern technology is the Sun. An especially powerful solar flare, aimed at Earth, could destroy satellites, knock out radio communications, and zap power grids on the ground — perhaps permanently. Yet much of that technology would never have been possible in the first place if we lived around a small star in the constellation Lacerta, the lizard, which is high in the sky this evening. EV Lacerta is just 16 light-years away. It’s only a third as big as the Sun, though, and less than one percent as bright, so you need a telescope to see it. Such a small star bubbles like a pot of boiling water, carrying heat from its core to the surface. This roiling gas is electrically charged, so it generates a strong magnetic field. And the star spins rapidly, enhancing the magnetic field. The strong magnetic field sometimes short circuits, producing flares — explosions of particles and energy that are the equivalent of many millions of hydrogen bombs. And in 2008, space telescop
