The Evolution of the Solar-Stellar Activity

TL;DR

This review summarizes observational insights into how stellar activity evolves in Sun-like stars, highlighting changes in rotation, magnetic activity, and flare phenomena over stellar ages, especially during early solar history.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of observational data on stellar activity evolution, including rotation-activity relationships, magnetic fields, and flare energies, with new estimates for young Sun activity levels.

Findings

Rotation periods for activity regime change: 1.1 and 3.3 days for G- and K-type stars.

Young Sun's far-UV radiation was 7 times stronger than today.

Maximum flare energies are linked to stellar magnetic fields and rotation rates.

Abstract

We present a brief review of observational results contributing to modern ideas on the evolution of stellar activity. Basic laws, derived for both rotation-age and activity-rotation relationships, allow us to trace how the activity of low-mass stars changes with age during their stay on the main sequence. We focus on the evaluation of the activity properties of stars that could be analogs of the young Sun. Our study includes joint consideration of different tracers of activity, rotation and magnetic fields of Sun-like stars of various ages. We identify rotation periods, when the saturated regime of activity changes to the unsaturated mode, when the solar-type activity is formed: for G- and K-type stars, they are 1.1 and 3.3 days, respectively. This corresponds to an age interval of about 0.2-0.6 Gyr, when regular sunspot cycle began to be established on the early Sun. We discuss properties of the coronal and chromospheric activity in young Suns. Our evaluation of the EUV-fluxes in the spectral range of 1350-1750 A shows that the far-UV radiation of the early Sun was a factor of 7 times more intense than that of the present-day Sun, and twice higher when the regular sunspot cycle was established. For the young Sun, we can estimate the possible mass loss rate associated with quasi-steady outflow as $10^{-12} M_\odot$/yr. The results of observations of the largest flares on solar-type stars are also discussed, leading to conclusion that the most powerful phenomena occur on the fast-rotating stars in the saturated activity regime. Our estimate of the stellar magnetic fields makes it possible to evaluate the maximal possible flare energy. This could help us better understand the origin of extreme events on the Sun in the past.