Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How Deep Was the Maunder Minimum?

  • Sunspot Number Recalibration
  • Published:
Solar Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

One of the most enigmatic features of the solar history is the Maunder minimum (MM). We analyze reports of solar observers from the group-sunspot-number database. Particular attention is given to short notes that resulted in an underestimation of the sunspot activity. These reports by Derham, Flamsteed, Hevelius, Picard, G.D. Cassini, and Fogel are found to address the absence of sunspots of great significance, which could signify a secular minimum with a majority of small short-lived spots. Up to Schwabe’s discovery of the solar cycle, sunspots were considered as an irregular phenomenon; sunspot observations were not dedicated to the task of sunspot monitoring and counting. Here, we argue that the level of the solar activity in the past is significantly underestimated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Concerning the Crabtree letters, we did not find his letter to Flamsteed, but in the letter to Gascoigne (Derham, 1710), he wrote that Gassendi affirms that sometimes 40 spots at once are seen on the Sun. Because observers of the seventeenth century did not count sunspots as groups, four to five objects per day in 1638 – 1639 can mean umbras or spots, not groups.

  2. We note that each drawing in a frame covers the entire time interval, 12 – 26 July, 9 – 22 August, or 2 – 24 September.

References

  • Arlt, R.: 2008, Digitization of sunspot drawings by Staudacher in 1749 1796. Solar Phys. 247, 399. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Arlt, R., Leussu, R., Giese, N., Mursula, K., Usoskin, I.G.: 2013, Sunspot positions and sizes for 1825-1867 from the observations by Samuel Heinrich Schwabe. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 433, 3165. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Bard, E., Raisbeck, G., Yiou, F., Jouzel, J.: 2000, Solar irradiance during the last 1200 years based on cosmogenic nuclides. Tellus, Ser. B Chem. Phys. Meteorol. 52, 985. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Baumgartner, F.J.: 1987, Sunspots or Sun’s planets – Jean Tarde and the sunspot controversy of the early 17th-century. J. Hist. Astron. 18, 44. ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Beer, J., Tobias, S., Weiss, N.: 1998, An active Sun throughout the Maunder minimum. Solar Phys. 181, 237. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Berggren, A.-M., Beer, J., Possnert, G., Aldahan, A., Kubik, P., Christl, M., Johnsen, S.J., Abreu, J., Vinther, B.M.: 2009, A 600-year annual 10Be record from the NGRIP ice core, Greenland. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L11801. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Brimblecombe, P.: 2012, The Big Smoke (Routledge Revivals): A History of Air Pollution in London Since Medieval Times, Taylor & Francis, Athens.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buganov, V.I., Rybakov, B.A. (eds.): 1968, Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. Chroniclers of the Last Quarter of the XVII Century 31, Nauka, Moscow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buonanno, R.: 2014, The Stars of Galileo Galilei and the Universal Knowledge of Athanasius Kircher. Astrophys. Space Science Lib. 399. DOI . ADS .

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Callebaut, D.K., Makarov, V.I., Tlatov, A.G.: 2007, Monopolar structure of the Sun in between polar reversals and in Maunder minimum. Adv. Space Res. 40, 1917. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Carrasco, V.M.S., Villalba Álvarez, J., Vaquero, J.M.: 2015, Sunspots during the Maunder minimum from Machina Coelestis by Hevelius. Solar Phys. 290, 2719. DOI .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Casas, R., Vaquero, J.M., Vazquez, M.: 2006, Solar rotation in the 17th century. Solar Phys. 234, 379. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Clerke, A.M.: 1894, A new method in astronomy. Observatory 17, 234. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Clette, F., Svalgaard, L., Vaquero, J.M., Cliver, E.W.: 2014, Revisiting the sunspot number. A 400-year perspective on the solar cycle. Space Sci. Rev. 186, 35. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Clette, F., Cliver, E.W., Lefèvre, L., Svalgaard, L., Vaquero, J.M.: 2015, Revision of the sunspot number(s). Space Weather 13(9), 529. 2015SW001264. DOI .

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Toma, G., Gibson, S.E., Emery, B.A., Arge, C.N.: 2010, The minimum between cycle 23 and 24: is sunspot number the whole story? In: Cranmer, S.R., Hoeksema, J.T., Kohl, J.L. (eds.) SOHO-23: Understanding a Peculiar Solar Minimum CS-428, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, 217. ADS .

    Google Scholar 

  • Delambre, J.B.J.: 1814, Astronomie théorique et pratique 3, Courcier, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derham, W.: 1710, Observations upon the spots that have been upon the Sun, from the year 1703 to 1711. Proc. R. Soc. Lond., Phil. Trans. Series I 27, 270. With a Letter of Mr. Crabtrie, in the Year 1640. Upon the Same Subject. By the Reverend Mr William Derham. ADS .

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Descartes, R.: 1637, Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison, & chercher la verité dans les sciences. Plus La dioptrique, les météores et la géométrie, qui sont des essais de cete méthode, Chez Henry Le Gras, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diercke, A., Arlt, R., Denker, C.: 2015, Digitization of sunspot drawings by Spörer made in 1861 – 1894. Astron. Nachr. 336, 53. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Dobrzycki, J.: 1999, Saturn, Aristotelian astronomy, and Cracow astronomers: an episode from the early years of telescopic astronomy. Hist. Astron. 30, 121. ADS .

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Eddy, J.A.: 1976, The Maunder minimum. Science 192, 1189. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Ettmüller, M.E.: 1693, De maculis in sole visis disseret praeses M. Augustinus Vagetius… & respondens Michael Ernestus Ettmüllerus… 4. Non. Aug. 1693, Typis H. Mülleri, Gissae-Hassorum.

  • Evelyn, J.: 1661, Fumifugium: Or the Inconvenience of the Aer and Smoak of London Dissipated, W. Godbid, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feynman, J., Ruzmaikin, A.: 2011, The Sun’s strange behavior: Maunder minimum or Gleissberg cycle? Solar Phys. 272, 351. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Forbes, E.G., Murdin, L., Wilmoth, F. (eds.): 1997, The Correspondence of John Flamsteed, the First Astronomer Royal 2, Taylor & Francis, Bristol. ISBN 9780750303910.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frick, P., Galyagin, D., Hoyt, D.V., Nesme-Ribes, E., Schatten, K.H., Sokoloff, D., Zakharov, V.: 1997, Wavelet analysis of solar activity recorded by sunspot groups. Astron. Astrophys. 328, 670. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Fröhlich, C.: 2013, Total solar irradiance: what have we learned from the last three cycles and the recent minimum? Space Sci. Rev. 176, 237. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Galilei, G.: 1610, Sidereus nuncius…, Manuscripta; History of science, 16th to 19th century, Prostat francos, in Paltheniano.

  • Galilei, G.: 1613, Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari e loro accidenti comprese in 3 lettere. – Roma, Giacomo Mascardi 1613, Giacomo Mascardi, Roma.

  • Gleissberg, W.: 1977, Considerations concerning the Maunder minimum of solar activity. Sterne Weltraum 16, 229. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Gleissberg, W., Damboldt, T., Schove, D.J.: 1979, Reflections of the Maunder minimum of sunspots. J. Br. Astron. Assoc. 89, 440. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez, J.M., Vaquero, J.M.: 2015, The sunspot observations by Rheita in 1642. Observatory 135, 220. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Grego, P., Mannion, D.: 2010, Galileo and 400 Years of Telescopic Astronomy, Springer, New York. DOI . ADS .

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Győri, L., Baranyi, T., Ludmány, A.: 2011, Photospheric data programs at the Debrecen observatory. In: Prasad Choudhary, D., Strassmeier, K.G. (eds.) IAU Symp. 273, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 403. DOI . ADS .

    Google Scholar 

  • Hathaway, D.H.: 2010, The solar cycle. Living Rev. Solar Phys. 7, 1. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hevelius, J.: 1647, Selenographia…, typis Hünefeldianis, Gedani.

  • Hevelius, J.: 1668, Cometographia: totam naturam cometarum; … exhibens… Cumprimis verò, cometæ anno 1652, 1661, 1664 & 1665 ab ipso auctore… observati, aliquantò prolixiùs…, Auctoris typis, & sumptibus imprimebat Simon Reiniger, Gedani.

  • Hevelius, J.: 1679, Machina coelestis: Rerum Uranicarum Observationes, Tam Eclipsium Luminarium, quam Occultationum Planetarum, & Fixarum, Nec non Altitudinum Meridianarum Solarium, Solstitiorum, & Aequinoctiorum; Una cum Reliquorum Planetarum, Fixarumq[ue] omnium hactenus cognitarum, Globisq[ue] adscriptarum, aeque ac plurimarum hucusq[ue] ignotarum Observatis, Auctoris typis, & sumptibus imprimebat Simon Reiniger, Gedani.

  • Hockey, T.A.: 1998, Galileo’s Planet: Observing Jupiter Before Photography, IOP Publishing, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hockey, T., Trimble, V., Williams, T.R., Bracher, K., Jarrell, R.A., Marché, J.D., Ragep, F.J., Palmeri, J., Bolt, M.: 2007, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. DOI . ADS .

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Hoyt, D.V., Schatten, K.H.: 1998, Group sunspot numbers: a new solar activity reconstruction. Solar Phys. 179, 189. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M.J.: 1858, An address delivered at the annual general meeting of the society, February 13, 1857, on presenting the gold medal to M. Schwabe. Mem. R. Astron. Soc. 26, 196. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Keppleri, J.: 1609, Phaenomenon singulare, seu Mercurius in sole. Cum digressione de causis, cur Dionysius Abbas Christianos minus iusto à Nativitate Christi Domini numerare docuerit: de capite & anni ecclesiastici, Impensis T. Schureri, Lipsia.

  • King, H.C.: 1955, The History of the Telescope, Dover, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kircher, A.: 1660, Iter extaticum coe leste… interlocutoribus Cosmiele et Theodidacto…, Herbipolis.

  • Kircher, A.: 1678, Athanasii Kircheri, …Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus…, Athanasii Kircheri, …Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus, apud J. Janssonium a Waesberge et filios, Amstelodami.

  • Kocharov, G.E., Ostryakov, V.M., Peristykh, A.N., Vasil’ev, V.A.: 1995, Radiocarbon content variations and Maunder minimum of solar activity. Solar Phys. 159, 381. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kopecky, M., Kuklin, G.V.: 1987, One possible explanation of Maunder’s minimum of sunspots. Bull. Astron. Inst. Czechoslov. 38, 193. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kovaltsov, G.A., Usoskin, I.G., Mursula, K.: 2004, An upper limit on sunspot activity during the Maunder minimum. Solar Phys. 224, 95. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuleshova, A.I., Dergachev, V.A., Kudryavtsev, I.V., Nagovitsyn, Y.A., Ogurtsov, M.G.: 2015, Possible influence of climate factors on the reconstruction of the cosmogenic isotope 14C production rate in the Earth’s atmosphere and solar activity in past epochs. Geomagn. Aeron. 55, 1071. DOI .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Landsberg, H.E.: 1980, Variable solar emissions, the “Maunder minimum” and climatic temperature fluctuations. Arch. Meteorol., Geophys. Bioklimatol., Ser. B Theor. Appl. Climatol. 28, 181. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C.O., Luhmann, J.G., Zhao, X.P., Liu, Y., Riley, P., Arge, C.N., Russell, C.T., de Pater, I.: 2009, Effects of the weak polar fields of solar cycle 23: investigation using OMNI for the STEREO mission period. Solar Phys. 256, 345. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Legrand, J.-P., Le Goff, M., Mazaudier, C.: 1990, On the climatic changes and the sunspot activity during the XVIIth century. Ann. Geophys. 8, 637.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingston, W., Penn, M.: 2009, Are sunspots different during this solar minimum? EOS Trans. 90, 257. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood, M., Harrison, R.G., Woollings, T., Solanki, S.K.: 2010, Are cold winters in Europe associated with low solar activity? Environ. Res. Lett. 5(2), 024001. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Loysha, V.A., Krakovetsky, Y.K., Popov, L.N.: 1989, Aurorae, the Catalogue from IV to XVIII Centuries, VINITI, Moscow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malapert, C.: 1633, Austriaca sidera heliocyclia, astronomicis hypothesibus illigata, ex officina Baltazaris Belleri, Duaci.

  • Maunder, E.W.: 1922, The Sun and Sun-spots, 1820 – 1920. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 82, 534. ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • McComas, D.J., Angold, N., Elliott, H.A., Livadiotis, G., Schwadron, N.A., Skoug, R.M., Smith, C.W.: 2013, Weakest solar wind of the space age and the current “Mini” Solar Maximum. Astrophys. J. 779, 2. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • McCracken, K.G., Beer, J.: 2014, Comparison of the extended solar minimum of 2006 – 2009 with the Spoerer, Maunder, and Dalton Grand minima in solar activity in the past. J. Geophys. Res. 119, 2379. DOI . ADS .

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCracken, K.G., Beer, J.: 2015, The annual cosmic-radiation intensities 1391 – 2014; the annual heliospheric magnetic field strengths 1391 – 1983, and identification of solar cosmic-ray events in the cosmogenic record 1800 – 1983. Solar Phys. 290, 3051. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • McCracken, K.G., Dreschhoff, G.A.M., Smart, D.F., Shea, M.A.: 2001, Solar cosmic ray events for the period 1561 – 1994: 2. The Gleissberg periodicity. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 21599. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, W.M.: 1916, The history of the discovery of the solar spots. Pop. Astron. 24, 82.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Miyahara, H., Masuda, K., Menjo, H., Kuwana, K., Muraki, Y., Nakamura, T.: 2005, Variation of solar activity during the Grand solar minima deduced from radiocarbon content in tree rings. In: Acharya, B.S., Gupta, S., Jagadeesan, P., Jain, A., Karthikeyan, S., Morris, S., Tonwar, S. (eds.) 29th Internat. Cosmic Ray Conf. 2, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 199. ADS .

    Google Scholar 

  • Muscheler, R., Joos, F., Beer, J., Müller, S.A., Vonmoos, M., Snowball, I.: 2007, Solar activity during the last 1000 yr inferred from radionuclide records. Quat. Sci. Rev. 26, 82. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagovitsyn, Y.A.: 2007, Solar cycles during the Maunder minimum. Astron. Lett. 33, 340. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagovitsyn, Y.A., Pevtsov, A.A., Livingston, W.C.: 2012, On a possible explanation of the long-term decrease in sunspot field strength. Astrophys. J. Lett. 758, L20. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Oldenburg, H.: 1671, New observations of spots in the Sun. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Series I 6, 2250. Made at the royal academy of Paris, the 11, 12 and 13th of August 1671; and English’t out of the French, as follows. ADS .

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, E.N.: 1976, The enigma of solar activity. In: Bumba, V., Kleczek, J. (eds.) Basic Mechanisms of Solar Activity, IAU Symp. 71, Reidel, Dordrecht, 3. ADS .

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Picolet, G.: 1978, La correspondance de Jean Picard avec Johann Hevelius (1671 – 1679). Rev. Hist. Sci. 31(1), 3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poluianov, S.V., Usoskin, I.G., Kovaltsov, G.A.: 2014, Cosmogenic isotope variability during the Maunder minimum: normal 11-year cycles are expected. Solar Phys. 289, 4701. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Réthly, A., Berkes, Z.: 1963, Nordlichtbeobachtungen in Ungarn, 1523 – 1960, Verlag der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Budapest.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ribes, J.C., Nesme-Ribes, E.: 1993, The solar sunspot cycle in the Maunder minimum AD1645 to AD1715. Astron. Astrophys. 276, 549. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheiner, C.: 1630, Rosa Ursina, Braccianum, Augustae Vindelicorum.

  • Scheiner, C.: 1612a, Tres epistolae de maculis solaribus scriptae ad Marcum Velserum. Cum observationum iconismis, Ad insigne pinus, Augustae Vindelicorum.

  • Scheiner, C.: 1612b, De maculis solaribus et stellis circa Jovem errantibus accuratior disquisitio, ad Mar. Velseum priscrita. Interjectis observationum delineationibus, Ad insigne pinus, Augustae Vindelicorum.

  • Scheiner, C.: 1651, Prodromus pro Sole mobili, et Terra stabili contra academicum florentinum Galilaeum a Galilaeis, qui nunc primum in publicam lucem prodit. – (Pragae, Gosvinus Nickel) 1651, Gosvinus Nickel, Silesia.

  • Schove, D.J.: 1979, Sunspot turning-points and aurorae A. D. 1510. Solar Phys. 63, 423. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Schröder, W.: 1979, Auroral frequency in the 17th and 18th centuries and the “Maunder minimum”. J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys. 41, 445. ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Schröder, W.: 1992, On the existence of the 11-year cycle in solar and auroral activity before and during the so-called Maunder minimum. J. Geomagn. Geoelectr. 44, 119. DOI .

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schröder, W.: 2005, Case Studies on the Spörer, Maunder and Dalton Minima, AKGGP, Science Edition, Potsdam. www.worldcat.org/title/case-studies-on-the-sporer-maunder-and-dalton-minima/oclc/62305527 .

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, S.: 1993, Is the Maunder minimum real? Eos Trans. 74, 450. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Smogulecki, N., Schönberger, J.G., Meyer, T.: 1627, Sol illustratus ac propugnatus ab illustri ac generoso domino, Excudebat Theodorus Meyer, Brisgoia.

  • Soon, W.W.-H., Yaskell, S.H.: 2003, The Maunder Minimum: The Variable Sun–Earth Connection, World Scientific, Singapore. ADS .

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, X., Hoeksema, J.T., Liu, Y., Zhao, J.: 2015, On polar magnetic field reversal and surface flux transport during solar cycle 24. Astrophys. J. 798, 114. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Svalgaard, L., Cliver, E.W., Kamide, Y.: 2005, Sunspot cycle 24: smallest cycle in 100 years? Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, 1104. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Svalgaard, L., Schatten, K.H.: 2016, Reconstruction of the Sunspot Group Number: the Backbone Method. Solar Phys. DOI . ADS .

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarde, J.: 1620, Borbonia sidera id est planetae qui solis limina circumuolitant motu proprio ac regulari, falso hactenus ab helioscopis maculae solis nuncupati, apud Ioannem Gesselin, via Iacobaea, sub signo Aquilae Aureae, Parisiis.

  • Thorsheim, P.: 2006, Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain Since 1800, Ohio University Press, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tlatov, A.G., Vasil’eva, V.V., Makarova, V.V., Otkidychev, P.A.: 2014, Applying an automatic image-processing method to synoptic observations. Solar Phys. 289, 1403. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Usoskin, I.G., Solanki, S.K., Schüssler, M., Mursula, K., Alanko, K.: 2003, Millennium-scale sunspot number reconstruction: evidence for an unusually active Sun since the 1940s. Phys. Rev. Lett. 91(21), 211101. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Usoskin, I.G., Hulot, G., Gallet, Y., Roth, R., Licht, A., Joos, F., Kovaltsov, G.A., Thébault, E., Khokhlov, A.: 2014, Evidence for distinct modes of solar activity. Astron. Astrophys. 562, L10. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Usoskin, I.G., Arlt, R., Asvestari, E., Hawkins, E., Käpylä, M., Kovaltsov, G.A., Krivova, N., Lockwood, M., Mursula, K., O’Reilly, J., Owens, M., Scott, C.J., Sokoloff, D.D., Solanki, S.K., Soon, W., Vaquero, J.M.: 2015, The Maunder minimum (1645 – 1715) was indeed a Grand minimum: a reassessment of multiple datasets. Astron. Astrophys. 581, A95. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero, J.M., Nogales, J.M., Sánchez-Bajo, F.: 2015, Sunspot latitudes during the Maunder minimum: a machine-readable catalogue from previous studies. Adv. Space Res. 55, 1546. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero, J.M., Trigo, R.M.: 2014, Revised group sunspot number values for 1640, 1652, and 1741. Solar Phys. 289, 803. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero, J.M., Trigo, R.M.: 2015, Redefining the limit dates for the Maunder minimum. New Astron. 34, 120. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero, J.M., Vázquez, M.: 2009, The Sun Recorded Through History, Astrophys. Space Sci. Lib., Springer, New York. ISBN 9780387927909.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero, J.M., Gallego, M.C., Usoskin, I.G., Kovaltsov, G.A.: 2011, Revisited sunspot data: a new scenario for the onset of the Maunder minimum. Astrophys. J. Lett. 731, L24. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero, J.M., Kovaltsov, G.A., Usoskin, I.G., Carrasco, V.M.S., Gallego, M.C.: 2015, Level and length of cyclic solar activity during the Maunder minimum as deduced from the active-day statistics. Astron. Astrophys. 577, A71. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Vitinskij, Y.I., Kopetskij, M., Kuklin, G.V.: 1986, Statistics of the Spot-Forming Activity of the Sun, Nauka, Moscow. ADS .

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • von Guericke, O., Schott, K.: 1672, Ottonis De Guericke Experimenta Nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburgica De Vacuo Spatio, Janssonius a Waesberge, Amtelodami.

  • Weiss, J.E., Weiss, N.O.: 1979, Andrew Marvell and the Maunder minimum. Q. J. Roy. Astron. Soc. 20, 115. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Woeckel, L.: 1846, Die Sonne und ihre Flecken, Verlag von Fridrich Campe, Nürnberg. DOI . ADS .

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, R.: 1856 – 1959, Astronomische Mittheilungen über die Sonnenflecken I bis X, Sternwarte zu Göttingen, Zürich.

  • Wolf, R.: 1861, Mittheilungen über die Sonnenflecken XII. Astron. Mitt. Eidgenöss. Sternwarte Zür. 2, 41. ADS .

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, C.: 1902, Histoire de l’Observatoire de Paris de sa fondation à 1793, Gauthier-Villars, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zolotova, N.V., Ponyavin, D.I.: 2014, Is the new Grand minimum in progress? J. Geophys. Res. 119, 3281. DOI . ADS .

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zolotova, N.V., Ponyavin, D.I.: 2015, The Maunder minimum is not as Grand as it seemed to be. Astrophys. J. 800, 42. DOI . ADS .

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We use data from the Royal Greenwich Observatory, United States Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (RGO/USAF/NOAA: solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/greenwch.shtml ), the revised version of Greenwich Photoheliographic Results (GPR) sunspot catalogue provided by the Debrecen Heliophysical Observatory (DHO: fenyi.solarobs.unideb.hu/deb_obs_en.html ), regular solar observations at the Kislovodsk Mountain Astronomical Station GAS GAO ( en.solarstation.ru ), the database by Hoyt and Schatten (1998) provided by the National Geophysical Data Center (NOAA/NGDS: ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SOLAR ), and the average group number provided by Svalgaard and Schatten (2016).

The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research projects No. 15-02-06959-a and No. 16-02-00300-a.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Petersburg State University, 198504, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N. V. Zolotova & D. I. Ponyavin

  2. Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, 196140, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N. V. Zolotova

Authors
  1. N. V. Zolotova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. I. Ponyavin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. V. Zolotova.

Ethics declarations

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests.

Additional information

Sunspot Number Recalibration

Guest Editors: F. Clette, E.W. Cliver, L. Lefèvre, J.M. Vaquero, and L. Svalgaard

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zolotova, N.V., Ponyavin, D.I. How Deep Was the Maunder Minimum?. Sol Phys 291, 2869–2890 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-016-0908-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-016-0908-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation