Sunspot Observations by Hisako Koyama: 1945-1996

The sunspot record is the only observational tracer of solar activity that provides a fundamental, multi-century reference. Its homogeneity has been largely maintained with a succession of long-duration visual observers. In this paper, we examine observations of one of the primary reference sunspot observers, Hisako Koyama. By consulting original archives of the National Museum of Nature and Science of Japan (hereafter, NMNS), we retrace the main steps of her solar-observing career, from 1945 to 1996. We also present the reconstruction of a full digital database of her sunspot observations at the NMNS, with her original drawings and logbooks. Here, we extend the availability of her observational data from 1947-1984 to 1945-1996. Comparisons with the international sunspot number (version 2) and with the group sunspot number series show a good global stability of Koyama's observations, with only temporary fluctuations over the main interval 1947-1982. Identifying drawings made by alternate observers throughout the series, we find that a single downward baseline shift in the record coincides with the partial contribution of replacement observers mostly after 1983. We determine the correction factor to bring the second part (1983-1996) to the same scale with Koyama's main interval (1947-1982). We find a downward jump by 9% after 1983, which then remains stable until 1996. Overall, the high quality of Koyama's observations with her life-long dedication leaves a lasting legacy of this exceptional personal achievement. With this comprehensive recovery, we now make the totality of this legacy directly accessible and exploitable for future research.Comment: Main text 31 pages, references 6 pages, 13 figures, 3 tabes, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 202

Temporal and Spatial Evolutions of a Large Sunspot Group and Great Auroral Storms Around the Carrington Event in 1859

The Carrington event is considered to be one of the most extreme space weather events in observational history within a series of magnetic storms caused by extreme interplanetary coronal mass ejections from a large and complex active region that emerged on the solar disk. In this article, we study the temporal and spatial evolutions of the source sunspot active region and visual aurorae and compare this storm with other extreme space weather events on the basis of their auroral spatial evolution. Sunspot drawings by Schwabe, Secchi, and Carrington describe the position and morphology of the source active region at that time. Visual auroral reports from the Russian Empire, Iberia, Ireland, Oceania, and Japan fill the spatial gap of auroral visibility and revise the time series of auroral visibility in middle to low magnetic latitudes. The reconstructed time series is compared with magnetic measurements and shows the correspondence between low-latitude to mid-latitude aurorae and the phase of magnetic storms. The spatial evolution of the auroral oval is compared with those of other extreme space weather events in 1872, 1909, 1921, and 1989 as well as their storm intensity and contextualizes the Carrington event, as one of the most extreme space weather events, but likely not unique

Karl von Lindener's Sunspot Observations during 1800 – 1827: Another Long-Term Dataset for the Dalton Minimum

On a centennial timescale, solar activity oscillates quasi-periodically and also tends to get into a low-activity period. The Dalton Minimum (c.a. 1790s–1820s) was one of such low-activity periods that had been captured in telescopic sunspot observations. However, it has been challenging to analyse the Dalton Minimum, as contemporary source records remained mostly unpublished and almost inaccessible for the scientific community. Recent studies have established reliable datasets for sunspot group number, sunspot number, and sunspot positions. This study further analyzes independent Silesian sunspot observations from 1800 to 1827 archived in a manuscript the Library WrocławUniversity (Ms AKC.1985/15), complements it with the metadata for the observer Karl Christian Reinhold von Lindener. We identified 547 days of sunspot observations in these records and derived the sunspot group number, individual sunspot number, and sunspot positions between 1800 and 1827. The results of this study have significantly revised the von Lindener’s sunspot group number, which was only known for 517 days in scientific databases, and remove contamination from general descriptions. Using our results, we extend investigations into individual sunspots and derived their positions. In our analysis, we locate von Lindener’s sunspot positions in both solar hemispheres and contrast the Dalton Minimum with the Maunder Minimum, adding further independent credits to the previous results for Derfflinger and Prantner’s datasets. Sunspot positions are also slightly biased towards the northern solar hemisphere in early Solar Cycle 6 (1812 – 1813). The high-latitude sunspot positions indicate the onset of Solar Cycle 7 as early as June 1822