近日，德国马克斯·普朗克太阳系研究所的Valeriy Vasilyev及其研究团队取得一项新进展。他们发现类太阳恒星大约每世纪产生一次超级耀斑。相关研究成果已于2024年12月13日在国际权威学术期刊《科学》上发表。

该研究团队利用开普勒太空观测站的光度数据，研究了其他具有类似太阳基本参数的恒星上的超级耀斑。在观测到的56450颗恒星中，研究人员在2527颗类似太阳的恒星上发现了2889次超级耀斑。

这一检测结果表明，在温度和变率与太阳相似的恒星上，能量超过10³⁴尔格的超级耀斑大约每世纪发生一次。所得恒星超级耀斑的频率-能量分布，与将太阳的耀斑分布外推至高能量范围的结果一致，因此研究人员推测它们是由相同的物理机制产生的。

据悉，恒星超级耀斑是电磁辐射的剧烈爆发，与太阳耀斑类似但释放的能量更大，在主序星上可达10³⁶尔格。目前尚不清楚太阳是否能产生超级耀斑，以及如果能产生，其发生的频率如何。

附：英文原文

Title: Sun-like stars produce superflares roughly once per century

Author: Valeriy Vasilyev, Timo Reinhold, Alexander I. Shapiro, Ilya Usoskin, Natalie A. Krivova, Hiroyuki Maehara, Yuta Notsu, Allan Sacha Brun, Sami K. Solanki, Laurent Gizon

Issue&Volume: 2024-12-13

Abstract: Stellar superflares are energetic outbursts of electromagnetic radiation that are similar to solar flares but release more energy, up to 10³⁶ erg on main-sequence stars. It is unknown whether the Sun can generate superflares and, if so, how often they might occur. We used photometry from the Kepler space observatory to investigate superflares on other stars with Sun-like fundamental parameters. We identified 2889 superflares on 2527 Sun-like stars, out of 56,450 observed. This detection rate indicates that superflares with energies >10³⁴ erg occur roughly once per century on stars with Sun-like temperature and variability. The resulting stellar superflare frequency-energy distribution is consistent with an extrapolation of the Sun’s flare distribution to higher energies, so we suggest that both are generated by the same physical mechanism.

DOI: 10.1126/science.adl5441

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl5441