Physical Sciences: Sunspots And Planetary Orbits

Abstract

THE possibility of a relationship between the periods of the sunspot cycle and the periods of the rotation of the planets has been investigated by several authors^1–5. Such an interaction could be mediated by non-linear processes of gravitational wave conversion of the type which may, for example, be responsible for the acceleration of the equator of the Sun^6,7. On the face of things, the most likely relationship should be that between the sunspot cycle and the period of rotation of Jupiter, gravitationally the dominant planet, but non-linear may imply that cross modulation products representing the combined effects of two or more planets may be the most easily recognizable.