Sunspots during the Maunder Minimum from Machina Coelestis by Hevelius

Abstract

We revisited the sunspot observations published by Johannes Hevelius in his book Machina Coelestis (1679) corresponding to the period 1653-1675 (just in the middle of the Maunder Minimum). We show detailed translations of the original Latin texts describing the sunspot records and provide the general context of these sunspot observations. From this source only, we present an estimate of the annual values of the Group Sunspot Number based only on the records that explicitly inform about the presence or absence of sunspots. Although we obtain very low values of the Group Sunspot Number, in accordance with a grand minimum of solar activity, these values are significantly higher in general than the values provided by Hoyt and Schatten (1998) for the same period.