Planetary line-up excites the sun: Aussie astronomers report
Submitted by 43D1 on Mon, 2008-07-07 13:53.
"Marilyn Head ABC Astronomers may have identified the link between sunspot activity and the Jovian planets(Source: NASA/ESA)
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Australian astronomers may have found a solution to how far-away Jupiter and Saturn drive the sun's solar cycle.
In a paper published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, astronomer Dr Ian Wilson and colleagues from the University of Southern Queensland, suggest Jupiter and Saturn affect the sun's movement and its rotation, and hence its sunspot activity.
Every 11 years the sun undergoes a period of intense solar activity, marked by flares, coronal mass ejections and sunspots. This period is known as the solar maximum and occurs twice each solar, or Hale, cycle.
"The sun can be thought of as a large bar magnet," says Wilson. "
Read the article at Planetary Line-up
More info also can be found at Sun, Jupiter and Saturn aligned formations
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