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The Sun is less active than other solar-like stars
Timo Reinhold1, Alexander I Shapiro2, Sami K Solanki2,3
1Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. reinhold@mps.mpg.de.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|May 2, 2020
Summary
The Sun
Area of Science:
- Stellar astrophysics and heliophysics.
- Comparative stellar activity and magnetic cycles.
Background:
- Stars exhibit brightness variations due to magnetic activity.
- Understanding solar variability requires comparison with Sun-like stars.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the typicality of the Sun's magnetic variability among solar-like stars.
- To compare the photometric variability of the Sun with that of 369 solar-like stars.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 4 years of Kepler space telescope photometric data.
- Integrated astrometric data from the Gaia spacecraft.
- Measured photometric variability for 369 solar-like stars with near-solar properties.
Main Results:
- Most Sun-like stars analyzed exhibit higher variability than the Sun.
- These highly variable stars are considerably more magnetically active than the Sun.
- Stars appeared visually similar to the Sun, differing mainly in activity levels.
Conclusions:
- The Sun's current activity level may not be its historical norm.
- The Sun might experience future epochs of significantly higher magnetic activity and variability.
- Further research is needed to understand the Sun's potential for high-activity states.
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