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The Carrington heliographic coordinate system, established by Richard C. Carrington in 1863, rotates with the Sun at a fixed rate based on the observed rotation of low-latitude sunspots. It rotates with a sidereal period of exactly 25.38 days, which corresponds to a mean synodic period of 27.2753 days.
Richard Christopher Carrington (26 May 1826 – 27 November 1875) [2] was an English amateur astronomer whose 1859 astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flares as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon the Earth and its aurorae; and whose 1863 records of sunspot observations revealed the differential rotation of the Sun.
The "Carrington longitude" of the same feature refers to an arbitrary fixed reference point of an imagined rigid rotation, as defined originally by Richard Christopher Carrington. Carrington determined the solar rotation rate from low latitude sunspots in the 1850s and arrived at 25.38 days for the sidereal rotation period.
The cause was determined independently in 1858 by Richard C. Carrington and Spörer. They discovered that the latitude with the most sunspots decreases from 40° to 5° during each cycle, and that at higher latitudes sunspots rotate more slowly. The Sun's rotation was thus shown to vary by latitude and that its outer layer must be fluid.
At solar minimum, the toroidal field is, correspondingly, at minimum strength, sunspots are relatively rare and the poloidal field is at maximum strength. During the next cycle, differential rotation converts magnetic energy back from the poloidal to the toroidal field, with a polarity that is opposite to the previous cycle.
Drawing of the Great Sunspot of 1865. Solar cycle 10 was the tenth solar cycle since 1755, when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began. [1] [2] The solar cycle lasted 11.3 years, beginning in December 1855 and ending in March 1867.
1863 — Richard Carrington discovers the differential nature of solar rotation; 1868 — Pierre Janssen and Norman Lockyer discover an unidentified yellow line in solar prominence spectra and suggest it comes from a new element which they name "helium" 1893 — Edward Maunder discovers the 1645-1715 Maunder sunspot minimum; 20th century
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