Sympathetic solar flares are eruptions that occur nearby in space and time, driven by an apparent interaction between the active regions in which they are triggered. Their statistical existence on the Sun has yet to be firmly established. The main goal of this paper is to identify a statistical signature of sympathetic flares, characterize their properties, and determine a potential mechanism driving their interaction. We performed a statistical analysis of a large number of flares observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager ( RHESSI ), and the Spectrometer Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) on Solar Orbiter during solar cycle 24 and 25. We examined the spatiotemporal distribution of consecutive flare pairs across solar cycle phases and hemispheres along with the propagation velocity of potential causal interactions and the relationship between flare magnitudes. We observed an excess of hemispheric flares separated by about 30 degrees of longitude and triggered in less than 1.5 hours from each other. This peak in angular separation varies with the solar cycle phase and hemisphere. Moreover, we identified a deficit of transequatorial events separated by 25-30 degrees in latitude and less than 5 degrees in longitude, a phenomenon we term unsympathetic flares. We provide strong statistical evidence for the existence of sympathetic flares on the Sun, demonstrating that their occurrence rate reaches approximately 5% across the three instruments used in this study. Additionally, we propose an interpretation of the observed angular scale of the sympathetic phenomenon based on the separation between magnetic field line footpoints derived from potential field source surface extrapolations.

L-S. Guité

A. Strugarek

P. Charbonneau

Astronomy and Astrophysics

ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS 是一本国际期刊，独立于用于获得结果的技术发表关于天文学和天体物理学（理论、观测和仪器）各个方面的论文。

Astronomy and Astrophysics is an international journal that focuses on various aspects of astronomy and astrophysics, including theory, observation, and instrumentation. The journal publishes high-quality academic papers independently of the techniques used to obtain research results.

《Astronomy and Astrophysics》是一本国际性期刊，专注于天文学和天体物理学的各个方面，包括理论、观测和仪器技术。该期刊独立于用于获得研究结果的技术，发表高质量的学术论文。

Category	Quartile
物理与天体物理	2
物理与天体物理, 天文与天体物理	2

Flaring together: A preferred angular separation between sympathetic flares on the Sun

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