Can sunspots go below Zer0?
I’d guess that measurements some related features could extend the scale.
Only when divided by minus zero.
“Can sunspots go below Zer0?”
—
I suppose if you take historical numbers and average them, you could come up with a “below average” figure. But when there’s nothing, it’s just nothing.
I’m not the one to explain this, but briefly:
No, the count cannot fall below zero.
-sunspots have been tracked for a long time across history, and while the quality of our scientific-instruments has increased dramatically across time, by-convention they count the Sunspots using what has been a relatively stable methodology, procedure & agreement. (People have tried to manipulate the Data-set in the recent past.)
—see https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/sunspots/
for information on the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory.
(and there are none visible right now)
Here we go...
“How do Astronomers Count Sunspots?”
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/how-astronomers-count-sunspots15022016513/
“In 1847, at a small observatory in Bern, Switzerland, a man named Rudolf Wolf started counting sunspots. He worked diligently, peering through a telescope every day, if he could, and recording the number of spots he observed. Curious about how the number of sunspots varied over time, he later compiled all the sunspot data he could find, going back to the year 1700....”
I would imagine that “zero” sunspots back in the 1800’s and 1700’ss and even perhaps the 1990’s did not detect all of the sunspots if they were small enough. So - a “zero” in 1800 might mean there were still 5 sunspots, so if we just see one, that might be a -4 using the 1800 scale!?
In the words of the immortal Billy Preston;
Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin' if you want to be with me
Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin' if you want to be with me
I'm not tryin' to be your hero
'Cause that zero is too cold for me, Brrr