Solar Radius Measurements at Mount Wilson

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7538 Solar Irradiance, 2162 Solar Cycle Variations (7536), 1650 Solar Variability

Scientific paper

Variations of the solar radius are not only important for solar physics but they also play a fundamental role in the research of terrestrial climate. In fact, changes in the apparent size of the Sun could account for a significant fraction of the total irradiance variations, and solar irradiance is known to be a primary force in driving atmospheric circulation. While the MDI instrument aboard SOHO is likely to provide the most accurate constraint on possible solar radius variations, the radius measurements obtained from ground base observations represent a unique resource due to their long temporal coverage. Since 1970, the Mount Wilson synoptic programme of solar magnetic observations carried out at the 150-foot tower scans the solar disk using the radiation in the neutral iron line at 525.0 nm. For these images, the radius has been determined and results are presented on this paper. We show first the temporal behavior of these measurements. Secondly, if data are gathered by heliolatitude, the shape of the Sun differs from a perfect ellipsoid and shows solar distortions. We compare these results with others obtained with the heliometer at the Pic du Midi observatory in France. The comparison show a similitude in the shape with a bulge near the equator extending on 20-30 degrees followed by a depression at higher latitude near 60-70 degrees. These solar distortions needs to be confirmed by future space measurements (PICARD microsatellite) but it already raises the problem of a better understanding of the physics in the sub-surface layers.

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