Wolf number

Astronomers have been observing the Sun recording information about sunspots since the advent of the telescope in 1609[1]. However, the idea of compiling the information about the sunspot number from various observers originates in Rudolf Wolf in 1848[2] in Zürich, Switzerland. The produced series initially had his name, but now it is more commonly referred to as the international sunspot number series.

The international sunspot number series is still being produced today at the observatory of Brussels[3]. The international number series shows an approximate periodicity of 11 years, the solar cycle, which was first found by Heinrich Schwabe in 1843, thus sometimes it is also referred to as the Schwabe cycle. The periodicity is not constant but varies roughly in the range 9.5 to 11 years.[4] The international sunspot number series extends back to 1700 with annual values while daily values exist only since 1818.

Due to weather and researcher unavailability, "the" sunspot count is actually an average of observations by multiple people in multiple locations with different equipment, with a scaling factor k assigned to each observer to compensate for their differing ability to resolve small sunspots and their subjective division of groups of sunspots.[5]

The relative sunspot number ${\displaystyle R}$ is computed using the formula (collected as a daily index of sunspot activity):

${\displaystyle R=k(10g+s)\,}$

where

• ${\displaystyle s}$ is the number of individual spots,
• ${\displaystyle g}$ is the number of sunspot groups, and
• ${\displaystyle k}$ is a factor that varies with location and instrumentation (also known as the observatory factor or the personal reduction coefficient ${\displaystyle K}$).[6]

A different index of sunspot activity was introduced in 1998 in the form of the number of groups apparent on the solar disc[7]. With this index it was made possible to include sunspot data acquired since 1609, being the date of the invention of the telescope.

Since 1 July 2015 a revised and updated international sunspot number series has been made available.[5][8] The biggest difference is an overall increase by a factor of 1.6 to the entire series. Traditionally, a scaling of 0.6 was applied to all sunspot counts after 1893, to compensate for Alfred Wolfer's better equipment, after taking over from Wolf. This scaling has been dropped from the revised series, making modern counts closer to their raw values. Also, counts were reduced slightly after 1947 to compensate for bias introduced by a new counting method adopted that year, in which sunspots are weighted according to their size.[5]

The accuracy of the compilation of the group sunspot number series has been questioned, motivating the development of several alternative series[9][10][11][12] suggesting different behavior of sunspot group activity before the 20th century[13]. However, indirect indices of solar activity[14][15][16] favor the group sunspot number series by Chatzistergos T. et al.[12].

• Solar variation
• Joy's Law (astronomy)

• The Exploratorium's Guide to Sunspots
• Solar Influences Data Analysis Center (SIDC) for the Sunspot Index
• NASA Solar Physics Sunspot Cycle page and Table of Sunspot Numbers (txt) by month since 1749 CE