this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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A factual comparison of the recent solar storm to the Carrington event (www.astronomy.com)
submitted 6 months ago by CheapFrottage@lemmynsfw.com to c/science@lemmy.world
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Spoiler - though they were both G5 storms, they weren’t really that comparable.

Also, big as the Carrington Event was, it’s likely it was absolutely dwarfed by one about a millennium ago, the Miyake Event

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[–] victorz@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago (3 children)

How do we know there was a storm a millennium ago, and even its measurements?

[–] towerful@programming.dev 21 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Trees!
Trees store lots of environmental and atmospheric data in their trunks. When they get fossilized a lot of that information remains intact.
Also, ice cores. Layers of ice protect previous layers of ice from further contamination, so are a pretty good snapshot of the environment/atmosphere at a given point in time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/67074940

Wiki has more detailed information on how Miyake Events are "stored" in trees and ice cores.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyake_event

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Thank you!

[–] ricdeh@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

As with any fossils, through the study of radioactive isotopes such as C-14.