Activity levels of Sun-like stars

Magnetic activity on the Sun leads to solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other space weather that affects Earth. Similar activity on other stars may determine the habitability of any orbiting exoplanets. Reinhold et al. analyzed brightness variations of stars observed with the Kepler and Gaia space telescopes to infer their activity levels (see the Perspective by Santos and Mathur). They found that the Sun was less active than most of the 369 solar-type stars in their sample (those with the most similar physical properties). It remains unclear whether the Sun is permanently less active than other stars of its type or if its activity levels vary over many thousands or millions of years.

Science, this issue p. 518; see also p. 466