[thedoc (OP)]

Kate Sisco asked the Naked Scientists:
   
NASA showed that sunspots are 'imprinted' on a cell much like a Hadley weather cell here on Earth.  As this spot rolls with the cell, it disappears into the Sun where it continues to cycle with the cell to reappear with the cell. I would like to read more results on this.

Does the energy that created the sunspot make the difference in how many clycles it stays?  When some new event, like the Shoemaker-Levy comet impact on Jupiter creates a new 'energy' that the Sun reflects back as a new sunspot, how long does it make a reappearance?

This is of course how NASA makes sunspot predictions, based on how many imprinted spots are still cycling.

What do you think?

[syhprum]

It has been suggested that the orbital period of Jupiter influences the sunspot cycle is any credence given to that theory today.