Knowledge of the solar sunspot cycle extends back to the mid-19th century with the work of Schwabe (1843) and Wolf (1856). The mean cycle period of the Sun is 11 years, however, individual cycle lengths range from 7 to 13 years (Eddy 1977). In this century, however, the length of the solar cycle has been closer to 10 years (Donahue and Baliunas 1992a). A complete explanation of the solar magnetic activity and its variations has not yet been produced, although a hydromagnetic dynamo is frequently posited as the source of solar (and therefore stellar) magnetic activity. Empirical measurements of those stars in the H-R Diagram which have convective zones and surface magnetic activity provide the boundary conditions and the range of behavior which must be explained by any all-encompassing theory explaining stellar magnetic activity, and activity cycles.
Exploring the Cycle Period and Parity of Stellar Magnetic Activity with Dynamo Modeling