Sun-Earth-Man - PlasmaResources

52 SUN-EARTH-MAN: AMESH OFCOSMIC OSCILLATlONS
is 1.12 months, precisely the third harmonic of the period 3.36 of the tidal cycle. ,
The change in the length of the tidal cycle and the torque cycle is very
irregular. The length of the dwidt cycle varies between 40 and 134 days. The
current torque cycle marked by JU-CM-CSg events 1982.83 and 1998.56 will
have a length of 15.7 years, compared with 12.8 years of the former cycle. So
the former 4.8-month cycle changes to 5.9 months, the former harmonic at 2.4
months will be at 2.9 months, and the combined cycle at 2.8 months will shift
to 3.2 months. These variations affect forecast techniques that make use of the
interference effects of the torque cycle and the tidal cycle. The cornplex results
show how difficult it would be to predict solar flares and their terrestrial effects
without knawledge of the intricate regulation of solar activity by both the giant,,
planets and the tidal planets, the effects of which are coupled by Jupiter, the
main factor in both groups. The new forecast issued in January 1983, discussed
in the beginning, was based on the current torque cycle with a period of 15.7
years. The strongly varied periods of its harmonics in comparison with those
of the former cycle and the tidal cycle were allowed for. The change in the
pattern offered a chance to test the reliability of the connections in question.
As has been shown above, this test yielded a distinct confirmation.
VIII. MODULATION OFTHESUN'S ROTATION 5 3
VIII. MODULATION OF THE SUN'S ROTATION BY PLANETARY
CONFIGURATIONS
The successhl forecast of highly energetic events greater than class X9 in 1982
was directly founded on the JU- CM-CS event in 1982.83. Such constellations
are nearly always accompanied by very energetic emptional activit~.'~ They
seem to affect such activity via the Sun's rotation rate. The Sun, rotating on
L,
its axis, and the Sun, revolving around CM, could be looked at as coupled
oscillators capable of internal resonance resulting in slight positive or negative
accelerations in the Sun's spin. Such accelerations are actually observed.
Speed~ng up or slowmg down of the Sun's rotation rate is liable to influence
the Sun's activity. Slower rotation seems to be linked to enhanced achv~ty and
faster rotation to weak activity. According to investigations by John E. Ed&,''
based on historical observations by Scheiner and ~evelius, the rotation of ;he
Sun's equator sped up just before the Maunder Minimum, a protracted period
of very weak sunspot activity in the 17th century, whereas its rotation rate
about 1620, near a secular maximum of sunspots, was much the same as it is
today. Modern data conhrm this relation. Mt. Wilson ob~ervations'~ show two
striking jumps in the Sun's rate of rotation in 1967 and in 1970. These jumps
into deceleration concurred with the epochs of IOT, as can be seen in Fig. 2.
The arrows indicate heliocentric conjunctions of Jupiter and CM (JU-CM-CS)
that initiate IOT. A further deceleration was observed in 1974, the epoch of
the following JU-CM-CS event.
The planet Jupiter that is involved in these constellations plays a dominant
role even among the @ant planets that regulate the Sun's oscillations about
CM. Jupiter holds 71% of the total mass of the planets and 61% of the total
angular momentum of the system, whereas the Sun governs less than 1% of
the angular momentum. This se2ms to be indicative of a case of spin-orbit
coupling of the spinning Sun and the Sun revolving about CM, involving
transfer of angular momentum from Jupiter to the revolving Sun and
eventually to the spinning Sun. With respect to the angular momentum
conservation law it makes sense that the observed slowing down in the Sun's
spin coincides with an increase in the Sun's orbital angular momentum.
Coupling could result from the Sun's motion through its own electric and
magnetic fields that are relatively strong near the Sun's body. Even at a height
of one solar diameter above the Sun's surface the electron density is still about
1 million electrons per cm3. The Sun's average distance from CM is 1.1 solar
radii. Thus, the low corona can act as a brake on the Sun's su~face.~
The older Mount Wilson data were not corrected for scattered light.
Meanwhile corrected rotation data are available that are based on a single
reduction method for the entire interval 1967 to 1982. This time series
elaborated by R. Howard7' covers Camngton rotation numbers 1516 to 1726.
They are displayed on the x-axis of F~gure 23 and correspond to the period
December 29, 1966, to September 4, 1982. The rotation values represent the
equatorial angular s~dereal rotation rate averaged over respect~ve rotat~ons.
The plot is based on the running variance of these data. Running means are
a well known feature in statistics. Variance, the square of the standard
deviation, can be sub~ected to a similar process. The respective moving values