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Scale Transfer in 1849: Heinrich Schwabe to Rudolf Wolf

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Abstract

The focus of this study is to reveal the reason behind a scale problem detected around 1849 in the historical version of the International Sunspot Number Series, i.e. version 1 (Leussu et al. in Astron. Astrophys. 559, A28, 2013; Friedli in Solar Phys. 291, 2505, 2016). From 1826 to 1848 Heinrich Schwabe’s observations were considered primary by Rudolf Wolf, and a shift of primary observer from Schwabe to Wolf in 1849 seems to have led to an inconsistency in the Sunspot Number series. In this study we benefited from various datasets, the most important being Schwabe’s raw counts from the Mittheilungen (Prof. Wolf’s Journals) that have been digitised at the Royal Observatory of Belgium between 2017 and 2019. We provide a robust quantification of the detected problem by using classic algebraic calculations, but also different methods such as a method inspired by Lockwood et al. (J. Geophys. Res. 119(7), 5172, 2014), hence assigning a modern k-factor to Schwabe’s observations before 1849. We also assess the implications of this 1849 inconsistency on the International Sunspot Number series (Versions 1 and 2) before and after 1849.

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Acknowledgments

L. Lefèvre and F. Clette wish to acknowledge the support of ISSI https://www.issibern.ch/teams/sunspotnoser/. The authors would also like to extend their gratitude to the reviewer for his/her constructive comments.

Funding

This work was supported by a PhD grant awarded by the Royal Observatory of Belgium to S. Bhattacharya.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. World Data Center SILSO, Royal Observatory of Belgium, 3 avenue Circulaire, 1180, Bruxelles, Belgium

    S. Bhattacharya, L. Lefèvre & F. Clette

  2. Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Boulevard du Triomphe Campus Plaine, CP213, Bruxelles, Belgium

    S. Bhattacharya & M. Jansen

  3. Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 4648601, Japan

    H. Hayakawa

  4. Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 4648601, Japan

    H. Hayakawa

  5. Space Physics and Operations Division, RAL Space, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, UK

    H. Hayakawa

  6. Nishina Centre, Riken, Wako, 3510198, Japan

    H. Hayakawa

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  1. S. Bhattacharya
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Shreya Bhattacharya wrote the main manuscript text. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Bhattacharya, S., Lefèvre, L., Hayakawa, H. et al. Scale Transfer in 1849: Heinrich Schwabe to Rudolf Wolf. Sol Phys 298, 12 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-022-02103-4

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