A Hale-like Cycle in the Solar Twin 18 Scorpii

Characterizing the cyclic magnetic activity of stars that are close approximations of our Sun offers our best hope for understanding our Sun's current and past magnetism, the space weather around solar-type stars, and more generally, the dynamos of other cool stars. The nearest current approximation to the Sun is the solar twin 18 Scorpii, a naked-eye Sun-like star of spectral type G2 Va. However, while 18 Scorpii's physical parameters closely match those of the Sun, its activity cycle is about 7 yr, and shorter than the solar cycle. We report the measurement of a periodicity of 15 yr that corresponds to a longer activity cycle for 18 Scorpii based on observations extending to the last three decades. The global magnetic geometry of 18 Scorpii changes with this 15 yr cycle and appears to be equivalent to the solar 22 yr magnetic polarity cycle. These results suggest that 18 Scorpii is also a magnetic proxy for a younger Sun, adding an important new datum for testing dynamo theory and magnetic evolution of low-mass stars. The results perturb our understanding of the relationship between cycle and rotation, constrain the Sun's magnetism and the Sun-Earth connection over the past billion years, and suggest that solar Schwabe and Hale cycle periods have increased over that time span.

Automated summary

Studying the magnetic activity of stars similar to the Sun helps us understand solar magnetism, space weather, and dynamos of other cool stars. We found that the solar twin 18 Scorpii has a longer activity cycle of 15 years, compared to the solar cycle. This suggests that 18 Scorpii may be a magnetic proxy for a younger Sun, providing important data for testing dynamo theory and magnetic evolution of low-mass stars.