Despite being the brightest and largest thing around, the Sun still holds quite a few mysteries for scientists. One of those includes its “heartbeat”, periodic signals released by our Solar System’s central star that appear rhythmic.
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00:00Despite being the brightest and largest thing around, the Sun still holds quite a few mysteries
00:08for scientists.
00:09One of those includes its heartbeat, periodic signals released by our solar system's central
00:14star that appear rhythmic.
00:16Now experts say they believe they have figured it out, and there are far more cosmic bodies
00:20involved.
00:21While much of that heartbeat involves internal solar processes, the rest of the planets in
00:25the solar system are quite in sync with the Sun's 11-year solar cycle.
00:29Experts say this means that the planets are likely involved in this rhythmic beating,
00:32with the entire system being part of what they are calling a gigantic dynamo.
00:37With physicist Frank Stefani saying about their findings,
00:39While this solar dynamo generates an approximately 11-year solar cycle in its own right, we think
00:44the planet's influence then intervenes in the workings of this dynamo, repeatedly giving
00:49it a little push, and thus forcing the unusually stable 11.07-year rhythm on the Sun.
00:55This is likely due to a point every 11.07 years when the Earth, Venus, and Jupiter all
01:00line up.
01:01This causes immense gravitational forces on one side of the Sun, all pulling in one direction,
01:06possibly synchronizing the solar dynamo.
01:08The researchers say this could finally explain why the Sun goes through an 11-year cycle,
01:13but also the shorter cycles in which it undergoes coinciding with other planetary lineups.