Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Solar constant variation drives global warming?

re: "Burden of proof" vs "ruling out"
Fox — (archived)

Let's see if we can back away from the rhetoric just a tad... I think the idea of Sol being a very-long-period variable star is intriguing in its own right, and deserves a dispassioned look without reference to consequences.

First of all, a survey of the literature is required. The available data have most likely already been examined, and results published. The lit', in turn, will point us to the primary data, which we can look at ourselves (if available on the Web).

I nominate LJK (if he's around), who is particularly tenacious at that sort of thing.

I haven't looked into the problem at all, having been up to now a spectator rather than a participant, so I am curious, first of all, about the nature of the question itself. Is the solar variability hypothesis solely an interpretation of the global temperature record, or are there other possible indicators? What physics drives different types of variability in stars generally, and can any of those models be applied to Sol? Is luminosity the only variation, or can temperature (i.e., the peak wavelength of the solar blackbody curve) also vary? Can periodicity be derived from the data? If so, how does it synchronize with the other known cycles in Earth's orbit (Milankovich, et seq.)?

There are, of course, more questions... those will do for now.

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