The 27-Day Signal in Sunspot Number Series and the Solar Dynamo

Abstract

We analyze the Wolf number daily series WN (1849 to present) as well as two other related series characterizing solar activity. Our analysis consists in computing the amplitude of a given Fourier component in a sliding time window and examining its long-term evolution. We start with the well-known 27.03- and 27.6-day periods and observe strong decadal variations of this amplitude as well as a sharp increase of the average value starting around 1905. We then consider a packet of 31 lines with periods from 25.743 to 28.453 days, which is shown to be a better representation of the synodic solar rotation. We first examine the temporal evolution of individual lines, then the energy of the packet. The energy of the packet increases sharply at the beginning of the 20th century, leading by more than two decades the well-known increase of the Wolf number. The nonaxisymmetry of sunspots increases before the total increase of activity and may be considered as a precursor. We discuss briefly and tentatively this observation in terms of solar dynamo theory.