2011/02/07 by Jie Jiang, Robert H. Cameron, Dieter Schmitt +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201016167
A&A, accepted
arxiv created 2011/02/07 · arxiv updated 2015/05/27
We use the historic record of sunspot groups compiled by the Royal Greenwich Observatory together with the sunspot number to derive the statistical properties of sunspot group emergence in dependence of cycle phase and strength. In particular we discuss the latitude, longitude, area and tilt angle of sunspot groups as functions of the cycle strength and of time during the solar cycle. Using these empirical characteristics the time-latitude diagram of sunspot group emergence (butterfly diagram) is reconstructed from 1700 onward on the basis of the Wolf and group sunspot numbers. This reconstruction will be useful in studies of the long-term evolution of the Sun's magnetic field.