Abstract
The idea of a planetary origin for the solar cycle dates back to the nineteenth century. Despite unsurmounted problems, it is still advocated by some. Stefani, Giesecke, and Weier (Solar Phys. 294, 60, 2019) thus recently proposed a scenario based on this idea. A key argument they put forward is evidence that the $\approx 11$ years solar cycle is “clocked”, as if it were paced by an accurate clock inside the Sun. Their demonstration rests upon the computation of a ratio proposed by Dicke (Nature 276, 676, 1978) applied to the solar-cycle time series of Schove (J. Geophys. Res. 60, 127, 1955). I show that their demonstration is invalid, because the assumptions used by Schove to build his time series force a clocked behavior. I also show that instabilities in a magnetized fluid can produce fluctuation time series that are close to being clocked.
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