Solar and Stellar Flares: Frequency, Active Regions, and Stellar Dynamo

Abstract

We demonstrate that for weak flares the dependence of their frequency occurrence on spottedness can be rather weak. The fact is that such flares can occur in both small and large active regions. At the same time, powerful large flares of classes M and X occur much more often in large active regions. In energy estimates, the mean magnetic field in starspots can also be assumed to be equal to the mean field in the sunspot umbra. So the effective mean magnetic field is 900 Mx cm−2 in sunspots and 2000 Mx cm−2 in starspots. Moreover, the height of the energy storage cannot be strictly proportional to A 1/2. For stars, the fitting factor is an order of magnitude smaller. The analysis of the occurrence rate of powerful solar X-ray flares of class M and X and superflares on stars shows that, with allowance for the difference in the spottedness and compactness of active regions, both sets can be described by a single model. Thus, the problem of superflares on stars and their absence on the Sun is reduced to the problem of the difference in the effectiveness of the dynamo mechanisms.