Flare-production potential associated with different sunspot groups


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EREN S., KILÇIK A., ATAY T., MITEVA R., Yurchyshyn V., Rozelot J. P., ...More

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, vol.465, no.1, pp.68-75, 2017 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 465 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2017
  • Doi Number: 10.1093/mnras/stw2742
  • Journal Name: MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.68-75
  • Keywords: Sun: activity, Sun: atmosphere, Sun: flares, sunspots, SOLAR
  • Akdeniz University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

In this study, we analysed different types (C, M, and X classes) of X-ray solar flares occurring in sunspot groups. The data cover 1996-2014 time interval, and a total of 4262 active regions (ARs) were included in the data set. We defined the solar-flare-production potential as the ratio of the total number of flares observed in a sunspot group to the total number of the same-class sunspot groups. Our main findings are as follows: (1) large and complex sunspot groups (D+ E+ F) have the flare-production potential about eight times higher than the small and simple (A+ B+ C+ H) ARs; (2) 79 per cent of all flares were produced by the large and complex sunspot groups, while only 21 per cent of flares were produced by the small groups; (3) the largest and the most complex F-class (very large and very complex) sunspot groups exhibit the highest flare-production potential (2.16 flare per sunspot group), while the smallest and the least complex A class sunspot groups show the lowest (0.05 flare per group) flare-production potential; (4) temporal variation of sunspot counts, sunspot group areas, and the total number of flares (including C flares) showed similar time profiles during both cycles with multiple peaks; (5) the mean area of ARs very well describes the flare-production potential of each group with the regression coefficient of R-2 = 0.99. Most of these sunspot groups (>70 per cent) are, according to the Zurich Classification, complex ARs.