Astronomers revealed Wednesday they have detected a storm on a star other than our Sun for the first time, discovering an explosion so violent it could have stripped away the atmosphere of any planets unlucky enough to be nearby.

Solar storms on the Sun sometimes shoot out huge eruptions known as coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt satellites when they arrive at Earth -- and create colourful auroras that dance across the sky.

In fact, a particularly powerful solar storm caused auroras as far south as the US city of Tennessee on Wednesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Auroras were also visible in the skies above New Zealand, AFP images showed, with more expected into Wednesday night.

However, observing such a storm on a distant star had proven

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