Sonett, Charles P. | Engineering Papers

NASA NTRS1991

The sun in time

Various papers on solar science are presented. The optics considered include: variability of solar irradiance, sunspot number, solar diameter, and solar wind properties; theory of luminosity and radius variations; standard solar models; the sun and the IMF; variations of cosmic-ray flux with time; accelerated particles in solar flares; solar cosmic ray fluxes during the last 10 million yrs; solar neutrinos and solar history; time variations of Be-10 and solar activity; solar and terrestrial components of the atmospheric C-14 variation spectrum; solar flare heavy-ion tracks in extraterrestrial objects. Also addressed are: the faint young sun problem; atmospheric responses to solar irradiation; quaternary glaciations; solar-terrestrial relationships in recent sea sediments; magnetic history of the sun; pre- and main-sequence evolution of solar activity; magnetic activity in pre-main-sequence stars; classical T Tauri stars; relict magnetism of meteorites; luminosity variability of solar-type stars; evolution of angular momentum in solar-mass stars; time evolution of magnetic fields on solarlike stars.

Sonett, Charles P.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Is the Sun a Long Period Variable

The inventory of atmospheric radiocarbon exhibits quasi-periodic variations of mean period of bar-lambda=269 years over the entire 9000 year record. But the period is inconstant and subject to random variability (sigma m exp. 1/2 = 119 years). The radiocarbon maxima correspond to the quasiperiodic extension of the Maunder minimum throughout the Holocene and resolve the long-standing issue of Maunder cyclicity. The radiocarbon maxima are amplitude modulated by the approx. 2300 year period and thus vary significantly in peak value. The approx. 2300 year period in turn appears to not be modulated by the secular geomagnetic variation. Detection of a Maunder-like sequence of minima in tree ring growth of Bristlecone pine and its correlation with the Maunder (1890, 1922) cyclicity in the radiocarbon record supports the inference that solar forcing of the radiocarbon record is accompanied by a corresponding forcing of growth of timberline Bristlecone pine. Because of the random component of the Maunder period, prediction of climate, if tied to the Maunder cycle other than probabilistically, is significantly hindered. For the mean Maunder period of 269 years, the probability is 67 percent that a given climatic maximum lies anywhere between 150 and 388 years.

Sonett, Charles P.↗