Comparison of activity in solar cycles 18, 19, and 20

Although solar activity cycles are in general remarkably similar, cycles 18, 19, and 20, with maximums in 1947.5, 1958.2, and 1968.9, respectively, differed in the heights of their maximums, in the patterns of their development, and to a certain extent in the character of their manifestations of solar activity. Of the 20 solar cycles since 1755, the maximums in sunspot numbers for cycles 18, 19, and 20 rank as 3, 1, and 10, respectively. Cycle 18, with a maximum smoothed monthly sunspot number of 151.8, was the cycle of 'giant' spots. Cycle 19, with the highest recorded maximum, 201.3, included many large spots but failed to produce spots with areas equal to those of cycle 18. The highest known daily 2800-MHz flux occurred in cycle 18, not in cycle 19. Cycle 20, with a sunspot maximum of only 110.6, appears to have been close to the average cycle of the last 220 years. An attempt is made to compare the general levels of flare production in the three cycles. Cycle 19 is estimated to have been more flare-rich than cycle 18 by a much smaller factor than the original data implied. In cycle 20, general flare production drops conspicuously.