Number of Sunspots

[faster328]

As recent sunspot region 13780 (sized 1250) has 103 spots, it has to be one of the most sunspots since 1996. Other sunspot regions with many sunspots include old 11944 (118 spots on 2014/01/09), old 9169 (119 spots on 2000/09/25), and old infamous 10486 (108 spots on 2003/10/30).

 

Sunspot region 11944, sized 1560 with 118 spots, on 2014/01/09.

 

List of sunspot regions with the most number of sunspots (original - outdated - as of 2024/08/08) - top 5:

1 - 2000/09/25 - 9169 - 119

2 - 2014/01/09 - 11944 - 118

3 - 2003/10/30 - 10486 - 108

4 - 2024/08/08 - 13780 - 103

5 - 2004/08/14 - 10656 - 99

 

List of sunspot regions with the most number of sunspots (up to date) - top 5:

1 - 2024/08/09 - 13780 - 128

2 - 2000/09/25 - 9169 - 119

3 - 2014/01/09 - 11944 - 118

4 - 2003/10/30 - 10486 - 108

5 - 2004/08/14 - 10656 - 99

Edited August 9 by faster328

[Ajay Sharma]

It is 337 Right now. Quiet Impressive.

[TheSolarMaster4700]

AR 13780 is up to 128 sunspots now!! This breaks AR 9169's record for the most sunspots in a region 😎

Edited August 9 by TheSolarMaster4700

[faster328]

UPDATE - August 9, 2024 (2024/08/09)

 

Original (as of 2024/08/08)

List of sunspot regions with the most number of sunspots (outdated) - top 5:

1 - 2000/09/25 - 9169 - 119

2 - 2014/01/09 - 11944 - 118

3 - 2003/10/30 - 10486 - 108

4 - 2024/08/08 - 13780 - 103

5 - 2004/08/14 - 10656 - 99

 

Updated to (as of 2024/08/09)

List of sunspot regions with the most number of sunspots (updated) - top 5:

1 - 2024/08/09 - 13780 - 128 +3

2 - 2000/09/25 - 9169 - 119 -1

3 - 2014/01/09 - 11944 - 118 -1

4 - 2003/10/30 - 10486 - 108 -1

5 - 2004/08/14 - 10656 - 99 0

 

Updated and has further info on the list name. Added some rank changes, some colour and made the font for the rank changes italic, to the list. Added an image to the topic post.

 

Record

1 hour ago, TheSolarMaster4700 said:

AR 13780 is up to 128 sunspots now!! This breaks AR 9169's record for the most sunspots in a region 😎

Tell @Marcel de Bont about it so that AR 3780 has a record and we will have a list of ARs with the most sunspots!

Edited August 9 by faster328

[Gojira Prime]

Well SWL is boldly claiming we might have officially hit solar max...🤷‍♂️

[MinYoongi]

Just a question. Do sunspots within a region mean anything? Like complexity wise or so 

[Lawn Boy]

I’m not a scientist, but it occurs to me that we could have a sunspot number of 1000 if we just had 10 regions with 100 sunspots apiece. I wonder if Galileo or Wolf ever counted 100 spots in a region. I would like to see the person who came up with that number, stand in front of an auditorium , with a pointer in their hand, pointing out each of those spots on a big screen.

[JaviMJ2304]

52 minutes ago, MinYoongi said:

Just a question. Do sunspots within a region mean anything? Like complexity wise or so 

Yes. The more sunspots you find in an active region, the more complex the magnetic structure tends to be, having higher possibilities of producing solar flares. In some regions more than others, of course.

[Loganas]

1 hour ago, MinYoongi said:

Just a question. Do sunspots within a region mean anything? Like complexity wise or so 

Complex regions will always have tons of spots. But these spots can also be organised in a way so that activity isn't high.

[hamateur 1953]

1 hour ago, Lawn Boy said:

I’m not a scientist, but it occurs to me that we could have a sunspot number of 1000 if we just had 10 regions with 100 sunspots apiece. I wonder if Galileo or Wolf ever counted 100 spots in a region. I would like to see the person who came up with that number, stand in front of an auditorium , with a pointer in their hand, pointing out each of those spots on a big screen.

Me too @Lawn Boy🤣🤣🤣

[JaviMJ2304]

37 minutes ago, Loganas said:

Complex regions will always have tons of spots. But these spots can also be organised in a way so that activity isn't high.

Exactly. An example is current region 3780. It has more than a hundred sunspots. However, they are so distributed that are spaced apart enough to barely have interaction between them.

Also, there is not much mixing between oposite polarities in the case of this region.

Lets see how develops the next days

 

 

[hamateur 1953]

I have read somewhere how these things are counted. Perhaps a kind soul will step in and explain how the International Sunspot Number is counted. Btw the Halloween Storms video available here shows one fast evolving region emerging and inkblotting an area. Pretty cool stuff. I think SWPC waits at least a day before assigning a region number preventing dudes like me from being embarrassed by its imminent death. 😂

[Philalethes]

1 hour ago, Lawn Boy said:

I would like to see the person who came up with that number, stand in front of an auditorium , with a pointer in their hand, pointing out each of those spots on a big screen.

A CV algo I wrote some time ago registers 45 spots if I count correctly, but as you can see there are some spots scattered around that seem to be around the threshold where they could be counted, and a couple of the largest spots are detected weirdly. They're probably using different imagery for the official counts too.

[Marcel de Bont]

6 uren geleden, faster328 zei:

Tell @Marcel de Bont about it so that AR 3780 has a record and we will have a list of ARs with the most sunspots!

We have such a list but it is ranked by size. But you can still see the amount of sunspots for the regions on the list. https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity/top-25-sunspot-regions/solar-cycle/25.html

5 uren geleden, Gojira Prime zei:

Well SWL is boldly claiming we might have officially hit solar max...🤷‍♂️

Could very well be. We will see in a couple of years but purely based on the high sunspot number, it sure smells like solar max has arrived!

4 uren geleden, Lawn Boy zei:

I’m not a scientist, but it occurs to me that we could have a sunspot number of 1000 if we just had 10 regions with 100 sunspots apiece. I wonder if Galileo or Wolf ever counted 100 spots in a region. I would like to see the person who came up with that number, stand in front of an auditorium , with a pointer in their hand, pointing out each of those spots on a big screen.

Haha. I agree. 128 seems a bit far fetched. Someone is really counting every little spot they can find, including spots on their monitor. 😁

[faster328]

If there IS a list of the ARs with the most sunspots, the list on the first post on this topic is the best list I can make.

[3gMike]

2 hours ago, faster328 said:

If there IS a list of the ARs with the most sunspots, the list on the first post on this topic is the best list I can make.

Did you follow the link that Marcel gave you? If you did you would see that the SWL list of largest spots also identifies the number of sunspots almost exactly the same as you have. The only discrepancy is associated with AR9169 where the largest size (2140) record gives only 28 spots compared with your record of 119. However, if you left click on the Region number you get a more detailed record for that region and find that the largest number of spots (119) was associated with a day when the region size was only 1970. That leads us to an obvious question - is region size, or number of spots more significant? If you then scroll down the record for that region you will find a recordof the biggest flares produced. Check that out and tell me what you think.

[Lawn Boy]

Belgium versus Boulder. Can one of you graph gurus come up with one that compares the two. I think I have seen one in the past that shows them diverging more at the maxima and less at the minima. 

[faster328]

Number of sunspots dropped to 30, then 64.

64 (2024/08/10) happens to be exactly half of 128 (2024/08/09).

Edited August 11 by faster328

[faster328]

Number of sunspots dropped to 20 (2024/08/11), then up to 40 (2024/08/12).

Edited August 13 by faster328

[Philalethes]

On 8/10/2024 at 2:25 PM, Lawn Boy said:

Belgium versus Boulder. Can one of you graph gurus come up with one that compares the two. I think I have seen one in the past that shows them diverging more at the maxima and less at the minima. 

It could certainly be interesting to compare the two, but I struggle to find data for the Boulder number; any idea where it might be accessible, if it is?

[Lawn Boy]

By Boulder II mean the number that is posted on Jan’s graph. Which by the way, has a gap in it. Versus the number from Belgium, SILSO which are posted daily for a month. But I cannot find anywhere with a list of the NOAA sunspot number. Or where they come from. I guess I heard from Boulder somewhere in the past. I thought you of all people would be the one who would know. Thanks for responding.

 

[Philalethes]

17 minutes ago, Lawn Boy said:

By Boulder II mean the number that is posted on Jan’s graph. Which by the way, has a gap in it. Versus the number from Belgium, SILSO which are posted daily for a month. But I cannot find anywhere with a list of the NOAA sunspot number. Or where they come from. I guess I heard from Boulder somewhere in the past. I thought you of all people would be the one who would know. Thanks for responding.

 

Yeah, I've seen it, but have never found any source for it either. It's also apparently what's published on the other space weather site, which has a small page which says:

Quote

 

There are two official sunspot numbers in common use. The first, the daily "Boulder Sunspot Number," is computed by the NOAA Space Environment Center [...]

[...]

The Boulder number is usually about 25% higher than the second official index, the "International Sunspot Number," published daily by the Solar Influences Data Center in Belgium. Both the Boulder and the International numbers are calculated from the same basic formula, but they incorporate data from different observatories.

 

I suppose I could send them and Jan an email about it.

[Lawn Boy]

I have emailed Jan once to let him know that his monthly chart had not been updated. He was quick to respond and fixed the problem. I didn’t really think I’d get a response back from him. Thanks for looking into it. And did you notice the gap in his graph.

[Philalethes]

1 hour ago, Lawn Boy said:

I have emailed Jan once to let him know that his monthly chart had not been updated. He was quick to respond and fixed the problem. I didn’t really think I’d get a response back from him. Thanks for looking into it. And did you notice the gap in his graph.

Right; I've actually corresponded with him once in the past about the F10.7 too, so I'm sure he'll reply at some point.

And yeah, I see that gap all the way on the right, in the fairly recent data. Don't know what might be the cause; I would guess something on his end, but could be NOAA too for all I know.