Our sun may be due for an extremely powerful "superflare" outburst in the next few decades, according to researchers. Stars like our sun can experience one of these superflares once every century or so,

Most of this activity lacks sufficient punch to harm us… but every now and then, the Sun erupts with a flare powerful enough to do serious damage. And we don't know how often such events occur. Previous estimates have the range between once a century and once a millennium.

A study of 56,000 Sun-like stars has revealed that stars like ours may experience powerful "superflares" about once per century.

The new study found that sun-like stars unleash violent superflares once a century. Our sun, while often emitting smaller flares, can also produce extraordinarily energetic events known as superflares.