Sunspots during the Maunder Minimum from Machina Coelestis by Hevelius

Abstract

We revisited the sunspot observations published by Johannes Hevelius in his book Machina Coelestis (1679) corresponding to the period 1653-1675 (just in the middle of the Maunder Minimum). We show detailed translations of the original Latin texts describing the sunspot records and provide the general context of these sunspot observations. From this source only, we present an estimate of the annual values of the Group Sunspot Number based only on the records that explicitly inform about the presence or absence of sunspots. Although we obtain very low values of the Group Sunspot Number, in accordance with a grand minimum of solar activity, these values are significantly higher in general than the values provided by Hoyt and Schatten (1998) for the same period.

References in corpus (5)

• Revisiting the Sunspot Number
• Level and length of cyclic solar activity during the Maunder minimum as deduced from the active day statistics
• Redefining the limit dates for the Maunder Minimum
• Sunspot latitudes during the Maunder Minimum: a machine-readable catalogue from previous studies
• Reconstructing Past Solar Activity using Meridian Solar Observations: the Case of the Royal Observatory of the Spanish Navy (1833-1840)

Cited by in corpus (21)

• A Revised Collection of Sunspot Group Numbers
• Visualization of the challenges and limitations of the long-term sunspot number record
• Thaddäus Derfflinger's sunspot observations during 1802-1824: A primary reference to understand the Dalton Minimum
• Sunspot characteristics at the onset of the Maunder Minimum based on the observations of Hevelius
• A Great Space Weather Event in February 1730
• Sunspot Observations during the Maunder Minimum from the Correspondence of John Flamsteed
• Strong evidence of low levels of solar activity during the Maunder Minimum
• The umbra-penumbra area ratio of sunspots during the Maunder Minimum
• An Optical Atmospheric Phenomenon Observed in 1670 over the City of Astrakhan Was not a Mid-Latitude Aurora
• Reanalyses of the Sunspot Observations of Fogelius and Siverus: Two "Long-Term" Observers during the Maunder Minimum
• Iwahashi Zenbei's Sunspot Drawings in 1793 in Japan
• Revisiting Kunitomo's Sunspot Drawings during 1835-1836 in Japan
• Intense geomagnetic storm during Maunder minimum possibly by a quiescent filament eruption
• The Celestial Sign in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 770s: Insights on Contemporary Solar Activity
• Sunspot observations by Charles Malapert during the period 1618-1626: a key dataset to understand solar activity before the Maunder minimum
• Revisiting the Amplitude of Solar Cycle 9: The Case of Sunspot Observations by W.C. Bond
• On the use of naked-eye sunspot observations during the Maunder Minimum
• Could a Hexagonal Sunspot Have Been Observed During the Maunder Minimum?
• A Transit of Venus Possibly Misinterpreted as an Unaided-Eye Sunspot Observation in China on 9 December 1874
• Long-lived sunspots in historical records: a case study analysis from 1660 to 1676
• Sunspot Observations in 1684-1702: John Flamsteed and Philippe de La Hire