Hi Stacy,

We sure hope so - that is one of our big goals. One thing that is tricky about studying the sunspot cycle is that it takes a while to gather observations when something takes 11 years. We have been systematically observing sunspots for a few centuries, but we have only really been able to observe the flows inside the Sun since the mid-1990s. That sounds like a while (about 17 years), but that is not even two 11-year sunspot cycles! Those flows are what actually drive the solar cycle, so it would be good to get more information about them.

Also, there are variations in addition to the 11 year cycle (as you can see in the plot I link to above). The last solar minimum, for instance, was unexpectedly long and quiet. We want to understand that sort of thing too.

cheers, Terry