Abstract
Based on the extended Greenwich – NOAA/USAF catalogue of sunspot groups, it is demonstrated that the parameters describing the latitudinal width of the sunspot generating zone (SGZ) are closely related to the current level of solar activity, and the growth of the activity leads to the expansion of the SGZ. The ratio of the sunspot number to the width of the SGZ shows saturation at a certain level of the sunspot number, and above this level the increase of the activity takes place mostly due to the expansion of the SGZ. It is shown that the mean latitudes of sunspots can be reconstructed from the amplitudes of solar activity. Using the obtained relations and the group sunspot numbers by Hoyt and Schatten (Solar Phys. 179, 189, 1998), the latitude distribution of sunspot groups (“the Maunder butterfly diagram”) for the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth centuries is reconstructed and compared with historical sunspot observations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arlt, R.: 2008, Solar Phys. 247, 399.
Arlt, R.: 2009, Solar Phys. 255, 143.
Becker, U.: 1954, Z. Astrophys. 35, 137.
Carrington, R.C.: 1858, Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 19, 1.
Conway, A.J.: 1998, New Astron. Rev. 42, 343.
Gleissberg, W.: 1958, Z. Astrophys. 46, 219.
Hoyt, D.V., Schatten, K.H.: 1998, Solar Phys. 179, 189.
Li, K.J., Wang, J.X., Zhan, L.S., Yun, H.S., Liang, H.F., Zhao, H.J., Gu, X.M.: 2003, Solar Phys. 215, 99.
Maunder, E.W.: 1904, Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 64, 747.
Miletskii, E.V., Ivanov, V.G.: 2009, Astron. Rep. 53, 857 (Paper I).
Nagovitsyn, Yu.A.: 2008, Astrophys. Bull. 63, 43.
Nagovitsyn, Yu.A., Ivanov, V.G., Miletsky, E.V., Volobuev, D.M.: 2004, Solar Phys. 224, 103.
Ribes, J.C., Nesme-Ribes, E.: 1993, Astron. Astrophys. 276, 549.
Schwabe, H.: 1843, Astron. Nachr. 20, 283.
Schwabe, H.: 1844, Astron. Nachr. 21, 233.
Solanki, S.K., Wenzler, T., Schmitt, D.: 2008, Astron. Astrophys. 483, 623.
Spörer, G.: 1874, Beobachtungen der Sonnenflecken zu Anclam, W. Engelmann, Leipzig.
Waldmeier, M.: 1955, Ergebnisse und Probleme der Sonnenforschung, Geest & Portig, Leipzig.
Wolf, R.: 1852, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. 35, 704.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11207-010-9694-1
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ivanov, V.G., Miletsky, E.V. Width of Sunspot Generating Zone and Reconstruction of Butterfly. Sol Phys 268, 231–242 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-010-9665-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-010-9665-6