Related papers: Starspots, Stellar Cycles and Stellar Flares: Less…
Our understanding of stellar dynamos has largely been driven by the phenomena we have observed of our own Sun. Yet, as we amass longer-term datasets for an increasing number of stars, it is clear that there is a wide variety of stellar…
The solar activity cycle is a manifestation of the hydromagnetic dynamo working inside our star. The detection of activity cycles in solar-like stars and the study of their properties allow us to put the solar dynamo in perspective,…
Stellar magnetic fields are produced by a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo mechanism working in their interior -- which relies on the interaction between plasma flows and magnetic fields. The Sun, being a well-observed star, offers an unique…
The sunspot solar cycle has been usually explained as the result of a dynamo process operating in the sun. This is a classical problem in Astrophysics that until the present is not fully solved. Here we discuss current problems and…
The magnetic cycle of the Sun, as manifested in the cyclic appearance of sunspots, significantly influences our space environment and space-based technologies by generating what is now termed as space weather. Long-term variation in the…
Recent data from the Kepler mission has revealed the occurrence of superflares in sun-like stars which exceed by far any observed solar flares in release of energy. A natural idea is that the dynamo mechanism in superflaring stars differs…
Recent data on superflares on sun-like stars and radiocarbon data on solar activity in the past are both indicative of transient epochs of unusually high magnetic activity. We propose an explanation for the grand activity maxima in the…
The dynamic activity of stars such as the Sun influences (exo)planetary space environments through modulation of stellar radiation, plasma wind, particle and magnetic fluxes. Energetic stellar phenomena such as flares and coronal mass…
We first discuss how the flux transport dynamo with reasonably high diffusion can explain both the regular and the irregular features of the solar cycle quite well. Then we critically examine the inadequacies of the model and the challenge…
After summarizing the relevant observational data, we discuss how a study of flux tube dynamics in the solar convection zone helps us to understand the formation of sunspots. Then we introduce the flux transport dynamo model and assess its…
Like the solar cycle, stellar activity cycles are also irregular. Observations reveal that rapidly rotating (young) Sun-like stars exhibit a high level of activity with no Maunder-like grand minima and rarely display smooth regular activity…
In this paper, written as a general historical and technical introduction to the various review papers collected in the special issue ``Solar and Stellar Dynamo: A New Era'', we review the evolution and current state of dynamo theory and…
A review of solar cycle prediction methods and their performance is given, including forecasts for cycle 24 and focusing on aspects of the solar cycle prediction problem that have a bearing on dynamo theory. The scope of the review is…
The current photometric datasets, that span decades, allow for studying long-term cycles on active stars. Complementary Ca H&K observations give information also on the cycles of normal solar-like stars, which have significantly smaller,…
We discuss possible mechanisms underlying the observed features of stellar activity cycles, such as multiple periodicities in very active stars, non-cyclic activity observed in moderately active stars, and spatial distribution of stellar…
[Abridged abstract:] Stellar activity data provide evidence of activity wave branches propagating polewards rather than equatorwards (the solar case). Stellar dynamo theory allows polewards propagating dynamo waves for certain governing…
The main aim of this paper is to introduce the most important observables that help us to investigate stellar dynamos and compare those to the modeling results. We give an overview of the available observational methods and data processing…
The record of solar activity is reviewed here with emphasis on peculiarities. Since sunspot positions tell us a lot more about the solar dynamo than the various global sunspot numbers, we first focus on the records of telescopic…
We analyze the correlation between starspots and superflares on solar-type stars using observations from the Kepler mission. The analysis shows that the observed fraction of stars with superflares decreases as the rotation period increases…
This article reviews some of the leading results obtained in solar dynamo physics by using temporal oscillator models as a tool to interpret observational data and dynamo model predictions. We discuss how solar observational data such as…