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Traces of a huge solar storm that struck the Earth about 2,610 years ago were found in ice cores from Greenland.
Our Sun sometimes produces highly energetic particles, which are accelerated either by magnetic reconnection in solar flares or by shock waves associated with coronal mass ejections.
These energetic particles then follow paths along the interplanetary magnetic field lines, which, together with the location of the event on the Sun, determine whether these particles are affecting the Earth's atmosphere.
These phenomena, called solar proton events (SPE), pose a threat to modern society in terms of communication and navigation systems, space technologies and the operation of commercial aircraft.
Evidence of such events is recorded in a natural archive that is resolved annually, such as dark circles and ice cores (drilled ice samples).
To learn more about PES, Professor Raimund Muscheler from Lund University and his Swedish, French, Swiss, Korean, American and American colleagues analyzed the ice cores of Greenland.
The material contained evidence of a very powerful solar storm occurring in 591 BC.
"If this solar storm had taken place today, it could have had serious effects on our high-tech society," said Professor Muscheler.
This is only the third event of this type reliably documented and it is comparable to the most powerful SPE detected at 775 CE.
"We also participated in research that confirmed two other massive solar storms, using both ice cores and annual tree growth rings," said Professor Muscheler.
"These storms occurred in 775 CE and 994 CE."
"Although these massive solar storms are rare, our discovery shows that they are a naturally recurrent effect of solar activity," he added.
"That's why we need to strengthen the protection of society against solar storms."
The results were published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Paschal O Hare et al. Multiradionuclide evidence of an extreme solar proton event at 2610 B.P. (60660 BC). PNAS, published online March 11, 2019; doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1815725116
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