Auroras borealis in Iceland. A new analysis of tree-rings around the world for carbon-14 — a ..
. [+] naturally occurring radioactive variant of carbon — has turned up a spike dating to the year 664 B.C.
The Northern Lights may have been visible across regions of the world in 2024 that are not used to seeing aurora, but despite solar activity being at a 23-year high there has been no truly extreme solar storm since 664 B.C., according to new research.
Extreme Solar Events Six extreme solar storms have struck Earth in the past 14,500 years. They’re known as “Miyake” events after Fusa Miyake, a Japanese physicist, who in 2012 described that extreme solar events leave radioactive carbon isotopes in the growth rings of trees. However, the exact date of the most recent Miyake event has, until now, eluded scientists.
Dating extreme solar eruption events is essential for scientists who study and develop models of the sun’s activity over time. Solar Spike A new analysis of tree rings worldwide for carbon-14 — a naturally occurring radioactive carbon variant — has turned up a spike dating to 664 B.C.
The research was published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. Carbon-14 continually forms in Earth’s atmosphere when cosmic rays react with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. That’s absorbed by living organisms — such as trees — making carbon dating possible.
“After a few months, carbon-14 will have traveled from the stratosphere to the lower atmospher.
