Sunspot positions from observations by Flaugergues in the Dalton Minimum

Abstract

ABSTRACT French astronomer Honoré Flaugergues compiled astronomical observations in a series of handwritten notebooks for 1782–1830, which are preserved at Paris Observatory. We reviewed these manuscripts and encoded the records that contain sunspot measurements into a numerical table for further analysis. All measurements are timings, and we found three types of measurements, allowing the reconstruction of heliographic coordinates. In the first case, the Sun and sunspots cross vertical and horizontal wires; in the second case, one vertical and two mirror-symmetric oblique wires; and in the third case, a rhombus-shaped set of wires. Additionally, timings of two solar eclipses also provided a few sunspot coordinates. As a result, we present the time–latitude (butterfly) diagram of the reconstructed sunspot coordinates, which covers the period of the Dalton Minimum and confirms consistency with those of Derfflinger and Prantner. We identify four solar cycles in this diagram and discuss the observed peculiarities as well as the data reliability.