Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T08:56:28.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sunspots Areas and Heliographic Positions on the Drawings Made by Galileo Galilei in 1612

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2018

Mikhail V. Vokhmyanin Open the ORCID record for Mikhail V. Vokhmyanin [Opens in a new window]  and
Nadezhda V. Zolotova
Mikhail V. Vokhmyanin
Affiliation:
St. Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034Russia email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Nadezhda V. Zolotova
Affiliation:
St. Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034Russia email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In 1612, Galileo Galilei made very accurate drawings of the solar disk. Currently, 47 of them are in the open access: 9 in May 3 – 11, 35 in June and July, and 3 in late August. Unfortunately, reports have not provided the clock time, which results in uncertainty of sunspots heliographic coordinates. In the present study, we determine the exact time of the drawings by comparing the positions of the same spots from day to day. The time of the observations, which varies from 12 to 16 UT, gives us the direction of the solar rotation axis and the position of the helioequator. Unlike the spots drawn by Christopher Scheiner in 1611 – 1612, none of the analyzed spots lies within the helioequator. This confirms the quality of the Galileo’s drawings.

Keywords

Sun: activity(Sun:) sunspots
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 13 , Symposium S335: Space Weather of the Heliosphere: Processes and Forecasts , July 2017 , pp. 205 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2018 

References

Arlt, R., Senthamizh Pavai, V., Schmiel, C. & Spada, F., 2016, A&A, 595, A104Google Scholar
Casas, R., Vaquero, J. M. & Vazquez, M., 2006, Solar Phys., 234, 379Google Scholar
Galilei, G. 1613, Istoria E dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari E loro accidenti comprese in tre lettere scritte all’illvstrissimo signor Marco Velseri . . ., G. Mascadi, RomaGoogle Scholar
Hoyt, D. V. & Schatten, K. H., 1998, Solar Phys., 179, 189Google Scholar
Sakurai, K., 1980, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 11, 164Google Scholar
Zolotova, N. V. & Ponyavin, D. I., 2016, Solar Phys., 291, 2869Google Scholar