The Sunspot Catalogues of Carrington, Peters, and de la Rue: Quality Control and Machine-readable Versions

In the 19th century, several astronomers made observations of sunspots, recording their positions and sometimes their areas. These observations were published in the form of extensive tables, but have been unhelpful until now. Three of these observers were Richard C. Carrington, Christian H. F. Peters, and Warren de la Rue (and their respective collaborators). They published, in various articles the data corresponding to 26 641 sunspot positions (Carrington, Peters, and de la Rue registered 4 900, 14 040, and 7 701 sunspot positions, respectively). In this paper we present a translation of more than 400 pages of their printed numerical tables into a machine readable format, including an initial analysis targeted at detecting possible mistakes in the reading or in the original transcription. The observations carried out by these three astronomers have been made available at the Centre de Don\'ees Astronomiques de Strasbourg (http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/VizieR?-source=VI/138).Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Solar Physic

Revised Group Sunspot Number for 1640, 1652, and 1741

Some studies have shown that our knowledge on solar activity in the years 1640, 1652, and 1741 can be improved. In this contribution, we revise the annual group sunspot numbers for these years from original observations. For the years 1640, 1652 and 1741, we have obtained the corrected values 15.2, 1.8, and 27.3, respectively (instead of the original values 15.0, 4.0, and 57.7).Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Solar Physic

Heat and Kinetic Theory in 19th-Century Physics Textbooks: The Case of Spain

Spain was a scientifically backward country in the early 19th-century. The causes were various political events, the War of Independence, and the reign of Fernando VII. The introduction of contemporary physics into textbooks was therefore a slow process. An analysis of the contents of 19th-century Spanish textbooks is here presented, centred on imponderable fluids, the concept of energy, the mechanical theory of heat, and the kinetic theory of gases.Comment: 15 pages (LaTex), 1 figure (jpg) To be published in Science & Educatio

Influence of solar eclipse of November 3rd, 2013 on the total ozone column over Badajoz, Spain

The hybrid eclipse of November 3rd, 2013 was observed as partial with a magnitude equal to 0.126 from Badajoz (38^\circ 53' N, 6^\circ 58' W). The evolution of the Total Ozone Column (TOC) values during 4 hours was monitored using a Solar Light Microtops-II manual sun-photometer. Before the eclipse, TOC remained invariable ~280 Dobson Units (DU) for one hour and a half. Once the eclipse was started, a clear decrease in TOC occurred. After the eclipse maximum (with TOC = 273 DU), a rapid TOC recovery was observed. When the eclipse was over, TOC came back to values ~280 DU.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physic

Early solar photographs by G. Roster (April 1893)

There are relatively few antique photographs of the Sun compared to drawings of the solar disc. We want to highlight three solar photographs taken by Giorgio Roster in 1893. Roster (1843-1894) was a doctor, chemist, and photographer. The library of the Museo di storia della scienza of Florence preserves part of Roster's legacy in the section "Carte e raccolta fotografica Roster", in which we want to highlight the title "Telefotografie Roster V: Macchie solari; teleobiettivo Roster, 1892-1893". This title contains three solar photographs taken from Florence with a Roster tele-objective. The main characteristics of the three photographs are: (i) Date: 21st April 1893. Time: 5:15 p.m. Magnification: 61x. (ii) Date: 25th April 1893. Time: 4:40 p.m. Magnification: 68x. (iii) Date: 30th April 1893. Time: 17:00 p.m. Magnification: 71x. It may be interesting to note that, although there are drawings of the solar disc in the collection of the Kalocsa Observatory for the days 21 and 30, there is no such thing for day 25. Thus, Roster's photographs fill that gap in the graphical information of the Sun.Comment: 3 pages, accepted for publication in "The Observatory

The sunspot observations by Toaldo and Comparetti at November 1779

There is a low frequency of sunspot observations in some years of the 17th and 18th century. In particular, the interval 1777-1795 is one of the periods with scarce observations in the databases. In this note, we report a sunspot observation carried out the 3rd November 1779 by Giuseppe Toaldo and Andrea Comparetti.Comment: 3 pages, The Observatory, accepte

Sunspot latitudes during the Maunder Minimum: a machine-readable catalogue from previous studies

The Maunder Minimum (1645-1715 approximately) was a period of very low solar activity and a strong hemispheric asymmetry, with most of sunspots in the southern hemisphere. In this paper, two data sets of sunspot latitudes during the Maunder minimum have been recovered for the international scientific community. The first data set is constituted by latitudes of sunspots appearing in the catalogue published by Gustav Sp\"orer nearly 130 years ago. The second data set is based on the sunspot latitudes displayed in the butterfly diagram for the Maunder Minimum which was published by Ribes and Nesme-Ribes almost 20 years ago. We have calculated the asymmetry index using these data sets confirming a strong hemispherical asymmetry in this period. A machine-readable version of this catalogue with both data sets is available in the Historical Archive of Sunspot Observations (http://haso.unex.es) and in the appendix of this article.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in "Advances in Space Research

The controversial early brightening in the first half of 20th century: a contribution from pyrheliometer measurements in Madrid (Spain)

A long-term decrease in downward surface solar radiation from the 1950s to the 1980s ("global dimming") followed by a multi-decadal increase up to the present ("brightening") have been detected in many regions worldwide. In addition, some researchers have suggested the existence of an "early brightening" period in the first half of 20th century. However, this latter phenomenon is an open issue due to the opposite results found in literature and the scarcity of solar radiation data during this period. This paper contributes to this relevant discussion analyzing, for the first time in Southern Europe, the atmospheric column transparency derived from pyrheliometer measurements in Madrid (Spain) for the period 1911-1928. This time series is one of the three longest dataset during the first quarter of the 20th century in Europe. The results showed the great effects of the Katmai eruption (June 1912, Alaska) on transparency values during 1912-1913 with maximum relative anomalies around 8%. Outside the period affected by this volcano, the atmospheric transparency exhibited a stable behavior with a slight negative trend without any statistical significance on an annual and seasonal basis. Overall, there is no evidence of a possible early brightening period in direct solar radiation in Madrid. This phenomenon is currently an open issue and further research is needed using the few sites with available experimental records during the first half of the 20th century.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in "Global and Planetary Change

Long-term Spatial and Temporal Variations of Aurora Borealis Events in the Period 1700--1905

Catalogues and other records of aurora-borealis events were used to study the long-term spatial and temporal variation of these phenomena in the period from 1700 to 1905 in the Northern Hemisphere. For this purpose, geographic and geomagnetic coordinates were assigned to approximately 27 000 auroral events with more than 80 000 observations. They were analysed separately in three large-scale areas: i) Europe and North Africa, ii) North America, and iii) Asia. There was a clear need to fill some gaps existing in the records so as to have a reliable proxy of solar activity, especially during the 18th century. In order to enhance the long-term variability, an 11-year smoothing window was applied to the data. Variations in the cumulative numbers of auroral events with latitude (in both geographic and geomagnetic coordinates) were used to discriminate between the two main solar sources: coronal mass ejections and high-speed streams from coronal holes. The characteristics of the associated aurorae correlate differently with the solar-activity cycle.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic

The Great Aurora of January 1770 observed in Spain

An analysis is made of the records made by Spanish observers of a notable aurora on 18 January 1770 in order to study the characteristics of this event. The records indicate that the phenomenon was observed in both continental and insular territories of Spain, in particular at San Crist\'obal de la Laguna, C\'adiz, C\'ordoba, Badajoz, Valencia, Castell\'on, Madrid, Barcelona, and Gerri de la Sal. The most equatorward observational site was San Crist\'obal de la Laguna (28.48{\deg} N, 16.32{\deg} W) in the Canary Islands. In general, the descriptions put its duration from sunset to midnight, but the observers from C\'ordoba and Madrid report the aurora as being visible during the last hours of the night, and it was even observed the following day at Castell\'on. All the observers described the aurora as red in colour, while white and ash colours were also reported at C\'ordoba and Gerri de la Sal. The brightness and shape of auroral display changed over time. Calculations of the geomagnetic latitudes of the observation locations gave San Crist\'obal de la Laguna as the southernmost (26{\deg} N) to Gerri de la Sal the northernmost (35{\deg} N), and indicate this aurora was observed over a wide range of abnormally low latitudes for such a phenomenon. Solar activity around the event was high, with the astronomer Horrebow registering 10 sunspot groups on that date (18 January 1770).Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in History of Geo- and Space Sciences (HGSS