Comparing the barycentric orbits of solar cycles: a visual experiment

Solar barycentric motion [credit: Wikipedia]

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The experiment can be summarised as the pairing of barycentric orbits across solar cycles in a completely new way. Whether this tells us anything new about solar cycles and/or barycentric orbits is open to individual opinion, but we invite readers to take a look.

In this recent Talkshop post we noted that ‘due to the motions of the four giant planets, Arnholm’s solar simulator shows us that the Sun’s motion around the barycentre of the solar system consists of alternate loops and arcs’. These motions are computable for both the past and the future.

Method: completed, dated and numbered solar cycles currently run from 1-24, with SC 25 in progress. In this experiment the pairing will be in a range from 1-30, so cycles 25-30 will have theoretical future end dates, but we can still show visual evidence of solar motion using the solar simulator for any time up to year 3000.

Each pair will sum to 31 using their cycle numbers, i.e. 1+30, 2+29 etc. (except the middle four i.e. 14-17 – see note below).

The display will split into two parts:
1) pairs where both solar cycles have completed: 7+24, 8+23 etc. onwards.
2) incomplete pairs: 1+30 up to 6+25. Cycles 25-30 end dates will be modelled, in effect a forecast.

The objective is to compare visually the barycentric orbits of each pair of solar cycles and assess how similar (or not) they appear to be, looking at the loops and arcs. One point of interest is that within an individual solar cycle the Sun rarely crosses its own path. Solar cycle lengths of any two can differ by as much as a few years.

In the first group below, the periods of the barycentric orbits are all direct from recorded solar cycle data, so each curving white line is the actual solar motion of that cycle.

SC7, SC24

SC8, SC23

SC9, SC22

SC10, SC21

SC11, SC20

SC12, SC19

SC13, SC18

Note: pairing is reversed in the next two examples, so SC 14 is with 16 and SC 15 with 17, but the sum of the four numbers is 2*31. This is on the basis that the solar barycentric orbits appear to offer a much better match. They happen to be the middle four solar cycles of a theoretical thirty cycle series.

SC14, SC16

SC15, SC17

In the second group, the barycentric orbit dates are direct from recorded solar cycle data for cycles 1-6 (the images on the left). The end dates are speculative for cycles 25-30 (but with a known start date for SC 25), and there are no gaps or overlaps.

SC1, SC30

SC2, SC29

SC3, SC28

SC4, SC27

SC5, SC26

SC6, SC25

We’ll have to wait a few years to see when SC 25 actually ends, likely between 2029 and 2033, but 2032 in our model.
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Image: Solar barycentric motion [credit: Wikipedia]

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2025/08/05/comparing-the-barycentric-orbits-of-solar-cycles-a-visual-experiment/