Reconstructing solar magnetic fields from historical observations V. Sunspot magnetic field measurements at Mount Wilson Observatory

Abstract

Context. Systematic observations of magnetic field strength and polarity in sunspots began at Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO), USA in early 1917. Except for a few brief interruptions, this historical dataset continues till present. Aims. The sunspot field strength and polarity observations are critical in our project of reconstructing the solar magnetic field over the last hundred years. Here we provide a detailed description of the newly digitized dataset of drawings of sunspot magnetic field observations. Methods. The digitization of MWO drawings is based on a software package develope d by us. It includes a semi-automatic selection of solar limbs and other features of the drawing, and a manual entry of the time of observations, the measured field strength and other notes hand-written on each drawing. The data are preserved in a MySQL database. Results. We provide a brief history of the project and describe the results from digitizing this historical dataset. We also provide a summary of the final dataset, and describe its known limitations. Finally, we compare the sunspot magnetic field measurements with other instruments, and demonstrate that, if needed, the dataset could be continued using modern observations such as, for example, Vector Stokes Magnetograph (VSM) on Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) platform.

arXiv comment14 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, Astronomy and Astrophysics, accepted

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• The intensity and evolution of the extreme storms in January 1938
• The Extreme Space Weather Event in February/March 1941
• Reconstructing solar magnetic fields from historical observations VIII. AIA 1600 Å contrast as a proxy of solar magnetic fields