Levels of chromospheric and coronal activity in Sun-like stars and various types of dynamo waves

TL;DR

This study examines X-ray and chromospheric activity in Sun-like stars, revealing how magnetic dynamo processes influence their activity levels and variability, and compares stellar activity to solar phenomena.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how dynamo wave types affect stellar activity, linking magnetic field amplification processes to observed emissions in Sun-like stars.

Findings

Irregular chromospheric variations correlate with more powerful coronas.

Stars with cyclic activity show modest X-ray luminosities.

Dynamo process transitions impact magnetic activity characteristics.

Abstract

We analyze the X-ray emission and chromospheric activity of Sun-like stars of F, G and K spectral classes (late-type stars) studied in the framework of the HK project. More powerful coronas are possessed by stars displaying irregular variations of their chromospheric emission, while stars with regular cyclic activity are characterized by comparatively modest X-ray luminosities and ratios of the X-ray to bolometric luminosity. This indicates that the nature of processes associated with magnetic-field amplification on the convective envelope changes appreciably in the transition from small to large dynamo numbers, directly affecting the character of the alpha-Omega dynamo. Due to the strong dependence of both the dynamo number and the Rossby number on the speed of axial rotation, earlier correlations found between various activity parameters and the Rossby number are consistent with our conclusion. Our analysis makes it possible to draw the first firm conclusions about the place of solar activity among analogous processes developing in active late-type stars.