The solar magnetic field since 1700

I. Characteristics of sunspot group emergence and reconstruction of the butterfly diagram

Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

Received: 18 November 2010
Accepted: 31 January 2011

Abstract

We use the historic record of sunspot groups compiled by the Royal Greenwich Observatory together with the sunspot number to derive the dependence of the statistical properties of sunspot emergence on the cycle phase and strength. In particular we discuss the latitude, longitude, area and tilt angle of sunspot groups as functions of the cycle strength and of time during the solar cycle.

Using these empirical characteristics the time-latitude diagram of sunspot group emergence (butterfly diagram) is reconstructed from 1700 onward on the basis of the Wolf and group sunspot numbers. This reconstruction will be useful in studies of the long-term evolution of the Sun’s magnetic field.