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Earth was bombarded with an enormous sexually transmitted disease of cosmic radiation sickness more than 14,000 age ago , freshly discovered tree gang disclose — and researchers suspect it was get by an tremendous , superpowered solar storm , the likes of which we have never see before .
In a new study published Oct. 9 in the journalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A : Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences , researchers psychoanalyse tree rings cut from subfossil , or partly fossilise , tree stump in the French Alps . The ancient trees , which were preserved by the sediment of a river bed , all have high levels of carbon 14 in a individual yr ’s ring dating to roughly 14,300 twelvemonth ago .
An artist’s impression of an enormous coronal mass ejection hitting Earth after being launched by the sun.
Radiocarbon , or carbon-14 , is an isotope ofcarbonwith extra neutron and is produced whencosmic rayshit nitrogen mote in the atmosphere . High radiocarbon levels in a tree ring suggest there was a capitulum in cosmic rays around that sentence . The clip the spikes fall out in these rings matches findings from chicken feed cores that were latterly unearthed in Greenland , which demonstrate high levels of the chemical element atomic number 4 from the same period . Beryllium is most normally created by cosmic rays bang into the core of other element .
Researchers think the radiation spike fare from a massive solar storm , most likely triggered by a tight - move cloud of magnetised plasma and radiation recognise as acoronal mass ejection(CME ) that was launched into blank space by a humongoussolar solar flare . What the gigantic storm would have looked like is beyond our current comprehension .
If true , it would make the tempest " the biggest ever identified " coming fromthe Lord’s Day , the researchers wrote in an email statement . " A similar solar tempest today would be ruinous for innovative technical company , " they impart .
A cross section of the tree rings from one of the subfossil tree stumps. The radiation spike is not visible to the naked eye.
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The research worker are calling the ancient solar storm aMiyake event — a gigantic type of solar tempest that has never been directly observed but leaves evidence in the dodo record . So far , at least six but potentially up to eight other Miyake events have been detected from Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ring or geological grounds across the earth , with the most late occurring more or less 1,030 years ago .
The largest forthwith - abide by solar storm was theCarrington Event , whicherupted from a grotesque sunspoton the solar open in 1859 . This tempest was not capable of producing the floor of radiation view in the tree ring , but it did grow an tremendous , bright flair that was visible to astronomers on Earth for around five mo and had the equivalent energy of around 10 billion 1 - megaton atomic bombs .
Two of the subfossil tree stumps in a shallow river in the French Alps.
Miyake events are believed to be " several orders of magnitude " greater than the Carrington Event , the researchers wrote . scientist think the most recent Miyake consequence was around 80 times more powerful than the Carrington Event , Live Science previously report . But the newly discovered superflare could have been doubly as powerful again , researchers wrote .
If an evenly knock-down solar storm smashed into Earth today it would be disastrous .
" Such super storms could permanently damage the transformer in our electricity grids , lead in huge and far-flung blackouts hold up months , " study co - authorTim Heaton , a radiocarbon expert at the University of Leeds in England , say in the statement . " They could also ensue in permanent damage to the artificial satellite that we all rely on for sailing and telecommunication , leaving them unusable . "
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Miyake events may have also played an authoritative role inour evolution . preceding research suggest that cosmic light beam spat out by superflarescould have sparked the beginning of life on Earth .
We have no literal estimate what Miyake events attend like , or if we would be able to say if one was coming before it was too late . Similar superflares have beenobserved erupting from remote stars , but this provides special information about our own sun .
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The new discovery spotlight that " we still have much to get wind about the behaviour of the sun and the dangers it poses to companionship on Earth , " the researchers write .
The sun iscurrently nearing a peak in its roughly 11 - twelvemonth solar cycle , known as the solar level best , when solar activity such as solar flares and CMEs become much more common . There is no indication that this increases the extremely foresighted odds of the sun producing another superflare . However , researcher have predicted that Miyake events could fall out roughly every 1,000 years , so it may not be too retentive before we find another one .
