Facular Regions Research Articles

Problems in Observation and Identification of Torsional Waves in the Lower Solar Atmosphere

Registering periodic variations of spectral line widths serves as the main method for observing torsional Alfv\'{e}n waves. Theoretically, the method seems valid, yet it entails a number of caveats when applied to data. For instance, the amplitudes of these observations should vary with changes of the location on the disk, and they should be associated with no intensity oscillations. We analyze extensive observational material of periodic non-thermal variations of line widths in coronal holes and facular regions in a number of spectral lines: H{\alpha}, He I 10830 {\AA}, Ca II 8542 {\AA}, Ba II 4554 {\AA}. In most cases, we detected associated intensity oscillations at similar frequencies. Besides, we observed no centre-to-limb dependency. This calls for a discussion on the practical validity of the method and on the alternative explanations for the nature of non-thermal variations of spectral line widths. Based on our observations, we consider registering line profile broadening a necessary but not sufficient means for unambiguous identification of torsional Alfv\'{e}n waves in the lower solar atmosphere.

Can 1D Radiative-equilibrium Models of Faculae Be Used for Calculating Contamination of Transmission Spectra?

The reliable characterization of planetary atmospheres with transmission spectroscopy requires realistic modeling of stellar magnetic features, since features that are attributable to an exoplanet atmosphere could instead stem from the host star’s magnetic activity. Current retrieval algorithms for analyzing transmission spectra rely on intensity contrasts of magnetic features from 1D radiative–convective models. However, magnetic features, especially faculae, are not fully captured by such simplified models. Here we investigate how well such 1D models can reproduce 3D facular contrasts, taking a G2V star as an example. We employ the well-established radiative magnetohydrodynamic code MURaM to obtain three-dimensional simulations of the magnetoconvection and photosphere harboring a local small-scale dynamo. Simulations without additional vertical magnetic fields are taken to describe the quiet solar regions, while simulations with initially 100 G, 200 G, and 300 G vertical magnetic fields are used to represent facular regions of different magnetic flux density. Subsequently, the spectra emergent from the MURaM cubes are calculated with the MPS-ATLAS radiative transfer code. We find that the wavelength dependence of facular contrast from 1D radiative–convective models cannot reproduce facular contrasts obtained from 3D modeling. This has far-reaching consequences for exoplanet characterization using transmission spectroscopy, where accurate knowledge of the host star is essential for unbiased inferences of the planetary atmospheric properties.

Oscillation Dynamics in Short-Lived Facular Regions During Their Lifetime

We performed a multi-wave study of the oscillation dynamic in short-lived facula regions during their lifetime. We studied oscillations in five regions, three of which belonged to the beginning of the current solar activity cycle, and two of them existed at the end of the previous cycle. We found that in the facula regions of the current cycle, low-frequency 1-2 mHz oscillation dominated at the early stages of the faculae formation, while in the regions of the previous cycle, five-minute oscillations dominated at this stage. At the maximal development phase of all the facula regions, the locations of observed low frequencies are closely related to those of the coronal loops. These results support the version that the sources of the low-frequency oscillations in loops lie loops' foot points.

Reconstructing solar irradiance from historical Ca II K observations

Context.Knowledge of solar irradiance variability is critical to Earth’s climate models and understanding the solar influence on Earth’s climate. Direct solar irradiance measurements have only been available since 1978. Reconstructions of past variability typically rely on sunspot data. However, sunspot records provide only indirect information on the facular and network regions, which are decisive contributors to irradiance variability on timescales of the solar cycle and longer.Aims.Our ultimate goal is to reconstruct past solar irradiance variations using historical full-disc Ca IIK observations to describe the facular contribution independently of sunspot observations. Here, we develop the method and test it extensively by using modern CCD-based (charge-coupled device) Ca IIK observations. We also carry out initial tests on two photographic archives.Methods.We employ carefully reduced and calibrated Ca IIK images from 13 datasets, including some of the most prominent series, such as those from the Meudon, Mt Wilson, and Rome observatories. We convert them to unsigned magnetic field maps and then use them as input to the adapted Spectral and Total Irradiance Reconstruction (SATIRE) model to reconstruct total solar irradiance (TSI) variations over the period 1978–2019, for which direct irradiance measurements are available.Results.The reconstructed irradiance from the analysed Ca IIK archives agrees well with direct irradiance measurements and existing reconstructions. The model also returns good results on data taken with different bandpasses and images with low spatial resolution. Historical Ca IIK archives suffer from numerous inconsistencies, but we show that these archives can still be used to reconstruct TSI with reasonable accuracy provided the observations are accurately processed and the effects of changes in instrumentation and instrumental parameters are identified and accounted for. The reconstructions are relatively insensitive to the TSI reference record used to fix the single free parameter of the model. Furthermore, even employment of a series, itself reconstructed from Ca IIK data, as a reference for further reconstructions returns nearly equally accurate results. This will enable the Ca IIK archives without an overlap with direct irradiance measurements to be used to reconstruct past irradiance.Conclusions.By using the unsigned magnetic maps of the Sun reconstructed from modern high-quality Ca IIK observations as input into the SATIRE model, we can reconstruct solar irradiance variations nearly as accurately as from directly recorded magnetograms. Historical Ca IIK observations can also be used for past irradiance reconstructions but need additional care, for example identifying and accounting for discontinuities and changes in the quality of the data with time.

H-alpha and Ca ii Infrared Triplet Variations During a Transit of the 23 Myr Planet V1298 Tau c

Abstract Young transiting exoplanets (<100 Myr) provide crucial insight into atmospheric evolution via photoevaporation. However, transmission spectroscopy measurements to determine atmospheric composition and mass loss are challenging due to the activity and prominent stellar disk inhomogeneities present on young stars. We observed a full transit of V1298 Tau c, a 23 Myr, 5.59 R ⊕ planet orbiting a young K0-K1.5 solar analog with GRACES on Gemini North. We were able to measure the Doppler tomographic signal of V1298 Tau c using the Ca ii infrared triplet (IRT) and find a projected obliquity of λ = 5° ± 15°. The tomographic signal is only seen in the chromospherically driven core of the Ca ii IRT, which may be the result of star-planet interactions. Additionally, we find that excess absorption of the Hα line decreases smoothly during the transit. While this could be a tentative detection of hot gas escaping the planet, we find this variation is consistent with similar timescale observations of other young stars that lack transiting planets over similar timescales. We show this variation can also be explained by the presence of starspots with surrounding facular regions. More observations both in and out of the transits of V1298 Tau c are required to determine the nature of the Ca ii IRT and Hα line variations.

Forward modelling of Kepler-band variability due to faculae and spots

ABSTRACT Variability observed in photometric light curves of late-type stars (on time-scales longer than a day) is a dominant noise source in exoplanet surveys and results predominantly from surface manifestations of stellar magnetic activity, namely faculae and spots. The implementation of faculae in light-curve models is an open problem, with scaling typically based on spectra equivalent to hot stellar atmospheres or assuming a solar-derived facular contrast. We modelled rotational (single period) light curves of active G2, K0, M0, and M2 stars, with Sun-like surface distributions and realistic limb-dependent contrasts for faculae and spots. The sensitivity of light-curve variability to changes in model parameters such as stellar inclination, feature area coverage, spot temperature, facular region magnetic flux density, and active band latitudes is explored. For our light-curve modelling approach we used actress, a geometrically accurate model for stellar variability. actress generates two-sphere maps representing stellar surfaces and populates them with user-prescribed spot and facular region distributions. From this, light curves can be calculated at any inclination. Quiet star limb darkening and limb-dependent facular contrasts were derived from MURaM 3D magnetoconvection simulations using ATLAS9. 1D stellar atmosphere models were used for the spot contrasts. We applied actress in Monte Carlo simulations, calculating light-curve variability amplitudes in the Kepler band. We found that, for a given spectral type and stellar inclination, spot temperature and spot area coverage have the largest effect on variability of all simulation parameters. For a spot coverage of $1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, the typical variability of a solar-type star is around 2 parts per thousand. The presence of faculae clearly affects the mean brightness and light-curve shape, but has relatively little influence on the variability.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РОЗПОВСЮДЖЕННЯ ЗВУКОВИХ ХВИЛЬ У СОНЯЧНИХ ФАКЕЛАХ

The results of observations of the faculae region near the center of the solar disk, which were obtained on the German Vacuum Tower Telescope VTT (Tenerife, Spain) are discussed. It is shown that the contrast (brightness) of the facula increases non-monotonouslywith an increase of the magnetic field strength, and, starting from the strength 140 mTl, it decreases.This is contrary to the currently accepted explanation of the increased brightness of facular regions as a result of the Wilson effect. The facular brightness in the upper chromosphere strongly depends on the propagation direction of sound waves. The regions of the facula, where the upward propagating waves are observed, look brighter than the regions in which the waves propagate in the opposite direction from the photosphere to the chromosphere. Dependence of the facular brightness on the wave propagation direction is caused by the fact that upward sound waves, for some reason, prefer to propagate in those regions of the solar facula where the magnetic field strength is above the average value. On the contrary, downward waves are observed in areas where the magnetic field is below average.

The Thin Magnetic Structure of Facular Areas and the Influence of Scale Transformations on the Temperature Profiles of Faculae

A distinctive feature of chromospheric magnetic fields in the facular regions on the Sun is their very fine spatial structure. In accordance with the observations performed in Ca II K and H line (the level of the lower chromosphere, about 0.5–1 Mm over the photosphere), numerous “slender fibrils mapping the magnetic field” were recorded. It is noted that “…the loops are organized in canopy-like arches” (Jafarzadeh et al., 2017). In this paper we perform some modification of the facular model presented by Solov’ev and Kirichek (2019) as a steady magnetic “fountain” with many thin trickles of plasma flows. The radial-azimuthal temperature profiles of the facula are calculated. It is shown that the difference in the vertical and horizontal scales of the system does not improve the correspondence between the model parameters of the faculae and their observed characteristics.

Features of Convection in the Atmospheric Layers of the Solar Facula

According to the data of complex 2D observations on the VTT telescope of the solar facula, a 3D model of the solar atmosphere in the facular region was obtained by solving the inverse radiative transfer problem in the Ba II 4554 A line. The magnetic field was estimated using the Stokes V profiles of the Fe I 15648 A line. The influence of magnetic field on photospheric convection was investigated: spatial variations in temperature and velocities at different heights were considered. It is shown that the mutual transformation of the mechanical and thermal energy of the solar plasma into magnetic energy occurs in the layers of the middle photosphere. The integral effect of a small-scale magnetic dynamo leads to lowering the temperature and slowing down the motion of the predominant downward flows in the layers of the middle photosphere in the facular regions with a strong field (greater than 1 kG), while there is an increase in temperature and acceleration of the motion of the predominant upward flows in the layers of the middle photosphere in the facular regions with a weak field (less than 1 kG). It is shown that the magnetic field of the facula stabilizes photospheric convection, and the small-scale magnetic dynamo causes a double temperature inversion in the photospheric layers of the facula.

Three years of Sun-as-a-star radial-velocity observations on the approach to solar minimum

Abstract The time-variable velocity fields of solar-type stars limit the precision of radial-velocity determinations of their planets’ masses, obstructing detection of Earth twins. Since 2015 July, we have been monitoring disc-integrated sunlight in daytime using a purpose-built solar telescope and fibre feed to the HARPS-N stellar radial-velocity spectrometer. We present and analyse the solar radial-velocity measurements and cross-correlation function (CCF) parameters obtained in the first 3 yr of observation, interpreting them in the context of spatially resolved solar observations. We describe a Bayesian mixture-model approach to automated data-quality monitoring. We provide dynamical and daily differential-extinction corrections to place the radial velocities in the heliocentric reference frame, and the CCF shape parameters in the sidereal frame. We achieve a photon-noise-limited radial-velocity precision better than 0.43 m s−1 per 5-min observation. The day-to-day precision is limited by zero-point calibration uncertainty with an RMS scatter of about 0.4 m s−1. We find significant signals from granulation and solar activity. Within a day, granulation noise dominates, with an amplitude of about 0.4 m s−1 and an autocorrelation half-life of 15 min. On longer time-scales, activity dominates. Sunspot groups broaden the CCF as they cross the solar disc. Facular regions temporarily reduce the intrinsic asymmetry of the CCF. The radial-velocity increase that accompanies an active-region passage has a typical amplitude of 5 m s−1 and is correlated with the line asymmetry, but leads it by 3 d. Spectral line-shape variability thus shows promise as a proxy for recovering the true radial velocity.

A Decade of Hα Transits for HD 189733 b: Stellar Activity versus Absorption in the Extended Atmosphere

Abstract HD 189733 b is one of the most well studied exoplanets due to its large transit depth and host star brightness. The focus on this object has produced a number of high-cadence transit observations using high-resolution optical spectrographs. Here we present an analysis of seven full Hα transits of HD 189733 b using HARPS on the 3.6 meter La Silla telescope and HIRES on Keck I, taken over the course of nine years from 2006 to 2015. Hα transmission signals are analyzed as a function of the stellar activity level, as measured using the normalized core flux of the Ca ii H and K lines. We find strong variations in the strength of the Hα transmission spectrum from epoch to epoch. However, there is no clear trend between the Ca ii core emission and the strength of the in-transit Hα signal, although the transit showing the largest absorption value also occurs when the star is the most active. We present simulations of the in-transit contrast effect and find that the planet must consistently transit active latitudes with very strong facular and plage emission regions in order to reproduce the observed line strengths. We also investigate the measured velocity centroids with models of planetary rotation and show that the small line profile velocities could be due to large velocities in the upper atmosphere of the planet. Overall, we find it more likely that the measured Hα signals arise in the extended planetary atmosphere, although a better understanding of active region emission for active stars such as HD 189733 is needed.

The possible origin of facular brightness in the solar atmosphere

This paper studies the dependence of the CaIIH line core brightness on the strength and inclination of photospheric magnetic field, and on the parameters of convective and wave motions in a facular region at the solar disc center. We use three simultaneous datasets obtained at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife): (1) spectra of BaII 4554 A line registered with the instrument TESOS to measure the variations of intensity and velocity through the photosphere up to the temperature minimum; (2) spectropolarimetric data in FeI 1.56 $\mu$m lines (registered with the instrument TIP II) to measure photospheric magnetic fields; (3) filtergrams in CaIIH that give information about brightness fluctuations in the chromosphere. The results show that the CaIIH brightness in the facula strongly depends on the power of waves with periods in the 5-min range, that propagate upwards, and also on the phase shift between velocity oscillations at the bottom photosphere and around the temperature minimum height, measured from BaII line. The CaIIH brightness is maximum at locations where the phase shift between temperature and velocity oscillations lies within 0-100 degrees. There is an indirect influence of convective motions on the CaIIH brightness. Namely, the higher is the amplitude of convective velocities and the larger is the height where they change their direction of motion, the brighter is the facula. Altogether, our results lead to conclusions that facular regions appear bright not only because of the Wilson depression in magnetic structures, but also due to real heating.

Oscillations Above Sunspots and Faculae: Height Stratification and Relation to Coronal Fan Structure

Oscillation properties in two sunspots and two facular regions are studied using Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) data and ground-based observations in the SiI 10827 and HeI 10830 lines. The aim is to study different-frequency spatial distribution characteristics above sunspots and faculae and their dependence on magnetic-field features and to detect the oscillations that reach the corona from the deep photosphere most effectively. We used Fast-Fourier-Transform and frequency filtration of the intensity and Doppler-velocity variations with Morlet wavelet to trace the wave propagating from the photosphere to the chromosphere and corona. Spatial distribution of low-frequency (1-2 mHz) oscillations outlines well the fan-loop structures in the corona (the Fe IX 171 line) above sunspots and faculae. High-frequency oscillations (5-7 mHz) are concentrated in fragments inside the photospheric umbra boundaries and close to facular-region centers. This implies that the upper parts of most coronal loops, which transfer low-frequency oscillations from the photosphere, sit in the Fe IX 171 line-formation layer. We used dominant frequency vs. distance from barycenter relations to estimate magnetic-tube inclination angle in the higher layers, which poses difficulties for direct magnetic-field measurements. According to our calculations, this angle is about 40 degrees in the transition region around umbra borders. Phase velocities measured in the coronal loops' upper parts in the Fe IX 171 line-formation layer reach 100-150 km/s for sunspots and 50-100 km/s for faculae.

Properties of oscillatory motions in a facular region

We study the properties of waves in a facular region of moderate strength in the photosphere and chromosphere. Our aim is to analyse statistically the wave periods, power and phase relations as a function of the magnetic field strength and inclination. Our work is based on observations obtained at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife) using two different instruments: the Triple Etalon SOlar Spectrometer (TESOS), in the BaII 4554 A line to measure velocity and intensity variations through the photosphere; and, simultaneously, the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter (TIP-II), in the FeI 1.56 mm lines to the measure the Stokes parameters and magnetic field strength in the lower photosphere. Additionally, we use the simultaneous broad-band filtergrams in the CaIIH line to obtain information about intensity oscillations in the chromosphere. We find several clear trends in the oscillation behaviour: (i) the period of oscillation increases by 15-20 % with the magnetic field increasing from 500 to 1500 G; (ii) the temperature-velocity phase shifts show a strikingly different distribution in the facular region compared to the quiet region, a significant number of cases in the range from -180 to 180 degrees is detected in the facula. (iii) the most powerful chromospheric CaIIH intensity oscillations are observed at locations with strong magnetic fields (1.3-1.5 kG) inclined by 10-12 degrees, as a result of upward propagating waves with rather small phase speeds, and temperature-velocity phase shifts between 0 and 90 degrees; (iv) the power of the photospheric velocity oscillations from the \BaII\ line increases linearly with decreasing magnetic field inclination, reaching its maximum at strong field locations.

Magnetohydrodynamic waves driven by p-modes

Waves are observed at all layers of the solar atmosphere and the magnetic field plays a key role in their propagation. While deep down in the atmosphere the p-modes are almost entirely of acoustic nature, in the upper layers magnetic forces are dominating, leading to a large variety of new wave modes. Significant advances have been made recently in our understanding of the physics of waves interaction with magnetic structures, with the help of analytical theories, numerical simulations, as well as high-resolution observations. In this contribution, we review recent observational findings and current theoretical ideas in the field, with an emphasis on the following questions: (i) Peculiarities of the observed wave propagation in network, plage and facular regions; (ii) Role of the mode transformation and observational evidences of this process: (iii) Coupling of the photosphere, chromosphere, and above by means of waves propagating in magnetic structures.

Properties of convective motions in facular regions

In this paper, we study the properties of solar granulation in a facular region from the photosphere up to the lower chromosphere. Our aim is to investigate the dependence of granular structure on magnetic field strength. We use observations obtained at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife) using two different instruments: Triple Etalon SOlar Spectrometer (TESOS), in the BaII 4554 A line to measure velocity and intensity variations along the photosphere; and, simultaneously, Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter (TIP-II), in the FeI 1.56 $\mu$m lines to the measure Stokes parameters and the magnetic field strength at the lower photosphere. We obtain that the convective velocities of granules in the facular area decrease with magnetic field while the convective velocities of intergranular lanes increase with the field strength. Similar to the quiet areas, there is a contrast and velocity sign reversal taking place in the middle photosphere. The reversal heights depend on the magnetic field strength and are, on average, about 100 km higher than in the quiet regions. The correlation between convective velocity and intensity decreases with magnetic field at the bottom photosphere, but increases in the upper photosphere. The contrast of intergranular lanes observed close to the disc center is almost independent of the magnetic field strength. The strong magnetic field of facular area seems to stabilize the convection and to promote more effective energy transfer in the upper layers of the solar atmosphere, since the convective elements reach larger heights.

An active region filament studied simultaneously in the chromosphere and photosphere

Paper I presents the magnetic structure of a filament that developed in active region (AR) NOAA 10781. In this paper we complement those results with the velocities retrieved from Doppler shifts measured at the chromosphere and the photosphere in the AR filament area. Various inversion methods with different numbers of atmospheric components and different weighting schemes of the Stokes profiles were used. The velocities were calibrated on an absolute scale. A ubiquitous chromospheric downflow is found in the faculae surrounding the filament, with an average velocity of 1.6 km/s. The filament region, however, displays upflows in the photosphere on both days, when the linear polarization (which samples the transverse component of the fields) is given more weight in the inversions. The upflow speeds of the transverse fields in the filament region average -0.15 km/s. In the chromosphere, the situation is different for the two days of observation. On July 3, the chromospheric portion of the filament is moving upwards as a whole with a mean speed of -0.24 km/s. However, on July 5 only the section above an orphan penumbra shows localized upflow patches, while the rest of the filament is dominated by the same downflows observed elsewhere in the facular region. Photospheric supersonic downflows that last for tens of minutes are detected below the filament, close to the PIL. The observed velocity pattern in this AR filament strongly suggests a scenario where the transverse fields are mostly dominated by upflows. The filament flux rope is seen to be emerging at all places and both heights, with a few exceptions in the chromosphere. This happens within a surrounding facular region that displays a generalized downflow in the chromosphere and localized downflows of supersonic character at the photosphere. No large scale downflow of transverse field lines is observed at the photosphere.

Photospheric and chromospheric activity on the young solar-type star HD 171488 (V889 Herculis)

We present the results of contemporaneous spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of the young solar-type star HD171488 (Prot~1.337 d) aimed at studying surface inhomogeneities at photospheric/chromospheric levels. Echelle FOCES spectra (R~40000) and Johnson photometry have been performed in 2006. Spectral type, rotational velocity, metallicity, and gravity were determined using a code developed by us. The metallicity was measured from the analysis of iron lines. The spectral subtraction technique was applied to the most relevant chromospheric diagnostics included in the FOCES spectral range (CaII IRT, Halpha, HeI-D3, Hbeta, CaII H&K). A model with two large high-latitude spots is sufficient to reproduce the B/V light curves and the radial velocity modulation, if a temperature difference between photosphere and spots of 1500 K is used. A Doppler imaging analysis of photospheric lines confirms a similar spot distribution. With the help of an analogous geometric two-spot model, we are able to reproduce the modulations in the residual chromospheric emissions adopting different values of ratios between the flux of plages and quiet chromosphere (5 for Halpha and 3 for CaII). Facular regions of solar type appear to be the main responsible for the modulations of chromospheric diagnostics. Both the spot/plage model and the cross-correlation between the light curve and the chromospheric line fluxes display a lead effect of plages with respect to spots (20-40 deg in longitude). The active regions of the rapidly rotating star HD171488 are similar to the solar ones in some respect, because the spot temperature is close to that of sunspot umbrae and the plage flux-contrast is consistent with the average solar values. The main differences with respect to the Sun are larger sizes and higher latitudes.

Magnetic Field Structures in a Facular Region Observed by THEMIS and Hinode

The main objective of this paper is to build and compare vector magnetic maps obtained by two spectral polarimeters, i.e. THEMIS/MTR and Hinode SOT/SP, using two inversion codes (UNNOFIT and MELANIE) based on the Milne-Eddington solar atmosphere model. To this end, we used observations of a facular region within active region NOAA 10996 on 23 May 2008, and found consistent results concerning the field strength, azimuth and inclination distributions. Because SOT/SP is free from the seeing effect and has better spatial resolution, we were able to resolve small magnetic polarities with sizes of 1" to 2", and we could detect strong horizontal magnetic fields, which converge or diverge in negative or positive facular polarities. These findings support models which suggest the existence of small vertical flux tube bundles in faculae. A new method is proposed to get the relative formation heights of the multi-lines observed by MTR assuming the validity of a flux tube model for the faculae. We found that the Fe 1 6302.5 \AA line forms at a greater atmospheric height than the Fe 1 5250.2 \AA line.

The digitized archive of the Arcetri spectroheliograms. Preliminary results from the analysis of Ca II K images

Context. The increasing interest in the recovery of historic data and the availability of new hardware resources is leading to projects to digitize photographic archives of astronomical observations. In addition to preservation, solar archives are digitized because the observations stored in such archives have the potential of providing unique information about solar magnetism, which can improve knowledge about long-term solar changes. Aims. The solar tower of the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory produced synoptic observations of the solar atmosphere from 1926 to 1974. The photographic archive contains about 13 000 plates of full-disk Ca II K and Hα spectroheliograms acquired during about 5000 observing days. The program for the digitization and distribution of the images of this archive was carried out at the Rome Astronomical Observatory and is now complete. Methods. Nearly 13 000 plates were scanned with a commercial device and stored on DVD, as well as in a database accessible online. Image processing was developed for the reduction of the data and their photographic calibration. Results. The obtained digital archive provides the astronomical community with the Arcetri historical solar observations and with measurements of solar features identified in such observations. As an example, we show some preliminary results concerning the temporal variability of facular regions identified in the time-series of Ca II K observations. Conclusions. Existing programs studying solar activity and variability, as well as new scientific projects, will benefit from the Arcetri digital archive, since it extends the temporal baseline of digital full-disk solar observations, and it provides data for the inter-calibration of results obtained from measurements performed in similar observations.