Updated sunspot group number reconstruction for 1749-1996 using the active day fraction method

Aims. Sunspot number series are composed from observations of hundreds of different observers that require careful normalization to standard conditions. Here we present a new normalized series of the number of sunspot groups for the period 1749-1996. Methods. The reconstruction is based on the active day fraction (ADF) method. which is slightly updated with respect to previous works, and a revised database of sunspot group observations. Results. Stability of some key solar observers has been evaluated against the composite series. The Royal Greenwich Observatory dataset appears relatively stable since the 1890s but is approximately 10% too low before that. A declining trend of 10-15% in the quality of Wolfer's observations is found between the 1880s and 1920s, suggesting that using him as the reference observer may lead to additional uncertainties. Wolf (small telescope) appears relatively stable between the 1860s and 1890s, without any obvious trend. The new reconstruction reflects the centennial variability of solar activity as evaluated using the singular spectrum analysis method. It depicts a highly significant feature of the modern grand maximum of solar activity in the second half of the 20th century, being a factor 1.33-1.77 higher than during the 18 and 19th centuries. Conclusions. The new series of the sunspot group numbers with monthly and annual resolution is provided forming a basis for new studies of the solar variability and solar dynamo for the last 250 yr.Peer reviewe

Revised GLE database : Fluences of solar energetic particles as measured by the neutron-monitor network since 1956

Aims. Continuous measurements of ground-based neutron monitors (NMs) form the main data source for studying high-energy high-intensity solar energetic particle (SEP) events that are called ground-level enhancements (GLEs). All available data are collected in the International GLE Database (IGLED), which provides formal NM count-rate increases above the constant pre-increase level which is due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR). This data set is used to reconstruct the energy spectra of GLE events. However, the assumption of a constant GCR background level throughout GLE events is often invalid. Here we thoroughly revise the IGLED and provide a data set of detrended NM count-rate increases that accounts for the variable GCR background. Methods. The formal GLE count-rate increases were corrected for the variable GCR background, which may vary significantly during GLE events. The corresponding integral omnidirectional fluences of SEPs were reconstructed for all GLEs with sufficient strength from the detrended data using the effective rigidity method. Results. The database of the detrended NM count rate is revised for GLE events since 1956. Integral omnidirectional fluences were estimated for 58 GLE events and parametrised for 52 sufficiently strong events using the modified Ellison-Ramaty spectral shape. Conclusions. The IGLED was revised to account for the variable GCR background. Integral omnidirectional fluences reconstructed for most of GLE events were added to IGLED. This forms the basis for more precise studies of parameters of SEP events and thus for solar and space physics.Peer reviewe

Long-term spot monitoring of the young solar analogue V889 Herculis

Context. Starspots are important manifestations of stellar magnetic activity. By studying their behaviour in young solar analogues, we can unravel the properties of their magnetic cycles. This gives crucial information of the underlying dynamo process. Comparisons with the solar cycle enable us to infer knowledge about how the solar dynamo has evolved during the Sun's lifetime. Aims. Here we study the correlation between photometric brightness variations, spottedness, and mean temperature in V889 Her, a young solar analogue. Our data covers 18 years of spectroscopic and 25 years of photometric observations. Methods. We use Doppler imaging to derive temperature maps from high-resolution spectra. We use the Continuous Period Search method to retrieve mean V-magnitudes from photometric data. Results. Our Doppler imaging maps show a persistent polar spot structure varying in strength. This structure is centred slightly off the rotational pole. The mean temperature derived from the maps shows an overall decreasing trend, as does the photometric mean brightness, until it reaches its minimum around 2017. The filling factor of cool spots, however, shows only a weak tendency to anti-correlate with the decreasing mean brightness. Conclusions. We interpret V889 Her to have entered into a grand maximum in its activity. The clear relation between the mean temperature of the Doppler imaging surface maps and the mean magnitude supports the reliability of the Doppler images. The lack of correlation between the mean magnitude and the spottedness may indicate that bright features in the Doppler images are real.Peer reviewe

Topological changes in the magnetic field of LQ Hya during an activity minimum

Aims. Previous studies have related surface temperature maps, obtained with the Doppler imaging (DI) technique, of LQ Hya with long-term photometry. Here, we compare surface magnetic field maps, obtained with the Zeeman Doppler imaging (ZDI) technique, with contemporaneous photometry, with the aim of quantifying the star's magnetic cycle characteristics.Methods. We inverted Stokes IV spectropolarimetry, obtained with the HARPSpol and ESPaDOnS instruments, into magnetic field and surface brightness maps using a tomographic inversion code that models high signal-to-noise ratio mean line profiles produced by the least squares deconvolution (LSD) technique. The maps were compared against long-term ground-based photometry acquired with the T3 0.40 m Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT) at Fairborn Observatory, which offers a proxy for the spot cycle of the star, as well as with chromospheric Ca II H&K activity derived from the observed spectra.Results. The magnetic field and surface brightness maps reveal similar patterns relative to previous DI and ZDI studies: nonaxisymmetric polar magnetic field structure, void of fields at mid-latitudes, and a complex structure in the equatorial regions. There is a weak but clear tendency of the polar structures to be linked with a strong radial field and the equatorial ones with the azimuthal field. We find a polarity reversal in the radial field between 2016 and 2017 that is coincident with a spot minimum seen in the long-term photometry, although the precise relation of chromospheric activity to the spot activity remains complex and unclear. The inverted field strengths cannot be easily related with the observed spottedness, but we find that they are partially connected to the retrieved field complexity.Conclusions. This field topology and the dominance of the poloidal field component, when compared to global magnetoconvection models for rapidly rotating young suns, could be explained by a turbulent dynamo, where differential rotation does not play a major role (so-called alpha(2)Omega(2) or alpha(2) dynamos) and axi- and non-axisymmetric modes are excited simultaneously. The complex equatorial magnetic field structure could arise from the twisted (helical) wreaths often seen in these simulations, while the polar feature would be connected to the mostly poloidal non-axisymmetric component that has a smooth spatial structure.</p

Analysis of Ground Level Enhancements (GLE) : Extreme solar energetic particle events have hard spectra

Nearly 70 Ground Level Enhancements (GLEs) of cosmic rays have been recorded by the worldwide neutron monitor network since the 1950s depicting a big variety of energy spectra of solar energetic particles (SEP). Here we studied a statistical relation between the event-integrated intensity of GLEs (calculated as count-rate relative excess, averaged over all available polar neutron monitors, and expressed in percent-hours) and the hardness of the solar particle energy spectra. For each event the integral omnidirectional event integrated fluences of particles with energy above 30 MeV (F-30) and above 200 MeV (F-200) were computed using the reconstructed spectra, and the ratio between the two fluences was considered as a simple index of the event's hardness. We also provided a justification of the spectrum estimate in the form of the Band-function, using direct PAMELA data for GLE 71 (17-May-2012). We found that, while there is no clear relation between the intensity and the hardness for weak events, all strong events with the intensity greater 100 % h are characterized by a very hard spectrum. This implies that a hard spectrum can be securely assumed for all extreme GLE events, e.g., those studied using cosmogenic isotope data in the past. (C) 2016 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Zeeman-Doppler imaging of five young solar-type stars

Context. The magnetic activity of the Sun changes with the solar cycle Similar cycles are found in other stars as well, but their details are not known to a similar degree. Characterising stellar magnetic cycles is important for the understanding of the stellar and solar dynamos that are driving the magnetic activity.Aims. We present spectropolarimetric observations of five young, solar-type stars and compare them to previous observations, with the aim to identify and characterise stellar equivalents of the solar cycle.Methods. We use Zeeman-Doppler imaging (ZDI) to map the surface magnetic field and brightness of our targets. The magnetic field is decomposed into spherical harmonic expansions, from which we report the strengths of the axisymmetric versus non-axisymmetric and poloidal versus toroidal components, and we compare them to the Rossby numbers of the stars.Results. We present five new ZDI maps of young, solar-type stars from December 2017. Of special interest is the case of V1358 Ori, which had gone through a polarity reversal between our observations and earlier ones. A less evident polarity reversal might also have occurred in HD 35296. There is a preference for a more axisymmetric field, and possibly a more toroidal field, for the more active stars with lower Rossby number, but a larger sample should be studied to draw any strong conclusions from this. For most of the individual stars, the amounts of toroidal and poloidal field have stayed on levels similar to those in earlier observations.Conclusions. We find evidence for a magnetic polarity reversal having occurred in V1358 Ori. An interesting target for future observations is chi(1) Ori, which may have a short magnetic cycle of a few years. The correlation between the brightness maps and the magnetic field is mostly poor, which could indicate the presence of small-scale magnetic features of different polarities that cancel one another out and are thus not resolved in our maps

Time-series analysis of long-term photometry of BM Canum Venaticorum

Long-term photometry is commonly used to monitor chromospheric activity of late-type stars. We study standard Johnson differential V photometry of the RS CVn binary BM Canum Venaticorum (BM CVn) spanning over a quarter of a century. Our main aims are to determine the activity cycles, the rate of surface differential rotation, and the rotation period of the active longitudes of BM CVn. The continuous period search (CPS) algorithm is applied to the photometry. The changes of the mean and amplitude of the light curves are used to search for activity cycles. The rotation period changes give an estimate of the rate of surface differential rotation. The Kuiper method is applied to the epochs of the primary and secondary minima to search for active longitudes. The photometry reveals the presence of a stable mean light curve (MLC) connected to the orbital period P-orb=20.(d)6252 of this binary. We remove this MLC from the original V magnitudes, which gives us the corrected V magnitudes. These two samples of Vand Vdata are analyzed separately with CPS. The fraction of unreliable CPS models decreases when the MLC is removed. The same significant activity cycle of approximately 12.5 years is detected in both V and V samples. The estimate for the surface differential rotation coefficient, k >= 0.10, is the same for both samples, but the number of unrealistic period estimates decreases after removing the MLC. The same active longitude period of P-al=20.(d)511 +/- 0.(d)005 is detected in the V and V magnitudes. This long-term regularity in the epochs of primary and secondary minima of the light curves is not caused by the MLC. On the contrary, the MLC hampers the detection of active longitudes.Peer reviewe

A test of the active-day fraction method of sunspot group number calibration:dependence on the level of solar activity

Abstract The method of active-day fraction (ADF) was proposed recently to calibrate different solar observers to standard observational conditions. The result of the calibration may depend on the overall level of solar activity during the observational period. This dependency is studied quantitatively using data of the Royal Greenwich Observatory by formally calibrating synthetic pseudo-observers to the full reference dataset. It is shown that the sunspot group number is precisely estimated by the ADF method for periods of moderate activity, may be slightly underestimated by 0.5 – 1.5 groups (≤10%) for strong and very strong activity, and is strongly overestimated by up to 2.5 groups (≤30%) for weak-to-moderate activity. The ADF method becomes inapplicable for the periods of grand minima of activity. In general, the ADF method tends to overestimate the overall level of activity and to reduce the long-term trends

Starspot activity of HD199178 Doppler images from 1994-2017

Context. Studying the spots of late-type stars is crucial for distinguishing between the various proposed dynamo mechanisms believed to be the main cause of starspot activity. For this research it is important to collect observation time series that are long enough to unravel both long- and short-term spot evolution. Doppler imaging is a very efficient method for studying spots of stars that cannot be angularly resolved. Aims. High-resolution spectral observations during 1994-2017 are analysed in order to reveal long- and short-term changes in the spot activity of the FK Comae-type subgiant HD199178. Methods. Most of the observations were collected with the Nordic Optical Telescope. The Doppler imaging temperature maps were calculated using an inversion technique based on Tikhonov regularisation and utilising multiple spectral lines. Results. We present a unique series of 41 temperature maps spanning more than 23 years. All reliable images show a large cool spot region centred near the visible rotation pole. Some lower latitude cool features are also recovered, although the reliability of these is questionable. There is an expected anti-correlation between the mean surface temperature and the spot coverage. Using the Doppler images, we construct the equivalent of a solar butterfly diagram for HD199178. Conclusions. HD199178 clearly has a long-term large and cool spot structure at the rotational pole. This spot structure dominated the spot activity during the years 1994-2017. The size and position of the structure has evolved with time, with a gradual increase during the last years. The lack of lower latitude features prevents the determination of a possible differential rotation.Peer reviewe