Iwahashi Zenbei's Sunspot Drawings in 1793 in Japan

Abstract

Three Japanese sunspot drawings associated with Iwahashi Zenbei (1756-1811) are shown here from contemporary manuscripts and woodprint documents with the relevant texts. We revealed the observational date of one of the drawings to be 26 August 1793, and the overall observations lasted for over a year. Moreover, we identified the observational site for the dated drawing at Fushimi in Japan. We then compared his observations with group sunspot number and raw group count from Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations (SILSO) to reveal its data context, and concluded that these drawings filled the gaps in understanding due to the fragmental sunspots observations around 1793. These drawings are important as a clue to evaluate astronomical knowledge of contemporary Japan in the late 19 th century and are valuable as a non-European observation, considering that most sunspot observations up to mid-19 th century are from Europe.

arXiv comment2017/11/16 accepted for publication in Solar Physics

References in corpus (24)

• Revisiting the Sunspot Number
• The new Sunspot Number: assembling all corrections
• The AD775 cosmic event revisited: the Sun is to blame
• Reconstruction of the Sunspot Group Number: the Backbone Method
• The Maunder minimum (1645--1715) was indeed a Grand minimum: A reassessment of multiple datasets
• Historical Sunspot Observations: A Review
• A Revised Collection of Sunspot Group Numbers
• A solar cycle lost in 1793--1800: Early sunspot observations resolve the old mystery
• Starspot activity and superflares on solar-type stars
• Long-Lasting Extreme Magnetic Storm Activities in 1770 Found in Historical Documents
• Sunspot positions, areas, and group tilt angles for 1611-1631 from observations by Christoph Scheiner
• Tests of sunspot number sequences: 3. Effects of regression procedures on the calibration of historic sunspot data
• The sunspot observations by Samuel Heinrich Schwabe
• Records of sunspot and aurora during CE 960-1279 in the Chinese chronicle of the Song dynasty
• East Asian Observations of Low Latitude Aurora during the Carrington Magnetic Storm
• Sunspots during the Maunder Minimum from Machina Coelestis by Hevelius
• Sunspot Numbers and Areas from the Madrid Astronomical Observatory (1876-1986)
• Records of Sunspots and Aurora Candidates in the Chinese Official Histories of the Yuán and Míng Dynasties during 1261-1644
• Sunspot Observations during the Maunder Minimum from the Correspondence of John Flamsteed
• Digitization of sunspot drawings by Spörer made in 1861-1894
• Tests of Sunspot Number Sequences: 1. Using Ionosonde Data
• Records of sunspot and aurora activity during 581-959 CE in Chinese official histories in the periods of Suí, Táng, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
• Records of Auroral Candidates and Sunspots in Rikkokushi, Chronicles of Ancient Japan from Early 7th Century to 887
• The lost sunspot cycle: New support from Be10 measurements

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Visualization of the challenges and limitations of the long-term sunspot number record
• Re-calibration of the Sunspot Number: Status Report
• Thaddäus Derfflinger's sunspot observations during 1802-1824: A primary reference to understand the Dalton Minimum
• The Solar Corona during the Total Eclipse on 16 June 1806: Graphical Evidence of the Coronal Structure during the Dalton Minimum
• Sunspot Observations Made by Hallaschka during the Dalton Minimum
• Stephan Prantner's Sunspot Observations during the Dalton Minimum
• Provenance of the Cross Sign of 806 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A possible Lunar Halo over Continental Europe?
• Revisiting Kunitomo's Sunspot Drawings during 1835-1836 in Japan
• Sunspot Drawings by Japanese Official Astronomers in 1749-1750
• A Transit of Venus Possibly Misinterpreted as an Unaided-Eye Sunspot Observation in China on 9 December 1874