Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

On the planetary theory of sunspots

Abstract

IT has been proposed1,2 that sunspot activity is affected by positions of the planets, and calculations have been presented3, which purport to show that planetary tides on the Sun vary in the same way as the sunspot variations. We believe that the apparent agreement of the sunspot cycle with planetary tidal effects is an artefact of the calculation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wood, R. M., and Wood, K. D., Nature, 208, 129–131 (1965).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bigg, E. K., Astr. J., 72, 463–466 (1967).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wood, K. D., Nature, 240, 91–93 (1972).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. JPL Technical Report No. 32–1306, 30–31 (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, 1968).

  5. Cohen, T. J., and Lintz, P. R., Nature, 250, 398–400 (1974).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Jose, P. D., Astr. J., 70, 193–200 (1965).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Gribbin, J., and Plagemann, S., The Jupiter Effect (Macmillan, London, 1974).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

OKAL, E., ANDERSON, D. On the planetary theory of sunspots. Nature 253, 511–513 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/253511a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/253511a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing