The AAVSO Sunspot Program (Abstract)

Volume 27 number 2 (1999)

Grant Foster

Abstract

(Abstract only) For over 50 years AAVSO observers have monitored sunspot activity on the sun, providing much-needed information on solar activity. However, recently a flaw was uncovered in the way that the AAVSO sunspot index is computed. It is not possible to recompute the index retroactively, because the original raw data were not preserved. We now have a corrected computation method, a complete set of computer programs to automate the calculations, and we are starting an archive of all the raw data from observers’ reports. This will ensure that in the future, the AAVSO sunspot index is computed in a consistent and correct fashion, and that all original data will be available for any other analysis we may wish to undertake.