Temporal and Spatial Evolutions of a Large Sunspot Group and Great Auroral Storms around the Carrington Event in 1859
Hisashi Hayakawa, Yusuke Ebihara, David M. Willis, Shin Toriumi, Tomoya Iju, Kentaro Hattori, Matthew N. Wild, Denny M. Oliveira, Ilaria Ermolli, José R. Ribeir… 展开作者
Hisashi Hayakawa, Yusuke Ebihara, David M. Willis, Shin Toriumi, Tomoya Iju, Kentaro Hattori, Matthew N. Wild, Denny M. Oliveira, Ilaria Ermolli, José R. Ribeiro, Ana P. Correia, Ana I. Ribeiro, Delores J. Knipp
备注：
main text 25 pages, reference 10 pages, 7 figures, and 1 table, accepted for publication in Space Weather
The Carrington event is considered to be one of the most extreme space weather events in observational history within a series of magnetic storms caused by extreme interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) from a large and complex active region (AR) emerged on the solar disk. In this article, we study the temporal and spatial evolutions of the source sunspot active region and visual aurorae, and compare this storm with other extreme space weather events on the basis of their spatial evolution. Sunspot drawings by Schwabe, Secchi, and Carrington describe the position and morphology of the source AR at that time. Visual auroral reports from the Russian Empire, Iberia, Ireland, Oceania, and Japan fill the spatial gap of auroral visibility and revise the time series of auroral visibility in mid to low magnetic latitudes (MLATs). The reconstructed time series is compared with magnetic measurements and shows the correspondence between low to mid latitude aurorae and the phase of magnetic storms. The spatial evolution of the auroral oval is compared with those of other extreme space weather events in 1872, 1909, 1921, and 1989 as well as their storm intensity, and contextualizes the Carrington event, as one of the most extreme space weather events, but likely not unique.
The importance of the investigation of magnetic superstorms is not limited to academic interest, because these superstorms can cause catastrophic impact on the modern civilisation due to our increasing dependency on technological infrastructure. In this context, the Carrington storm in September 1859 is considered as a benchmark of observational history owing to its magnetic disturbance and equatorial extent of the auroral oval. So far, several recent auroral reports at that time have been published but those reports are mainly derived from the Northern Hemisphere. In this study, we analyse da…
The Carrington storm in 1859 September has been arguably identified as the greatest geomagnetic storm ever recorded. However, its exact magnitude and chronology remain controversial, while their source data have been derived from the Colaba H magnetometer. Here, we have located the Colaba 1859 yearbook, containing hourly measurements and spot measurements. We have reconstructed the Colaba geomagnetic disturbances in the horizontal component (ΔH), the eastward component (ΔY), and the vertical component (ΔZ) around the time of the Carrington storm. On their basis, we have chronologically revised…
The magnetic storm around 1859 September 2, caused by so-called Carrington flare, was the most intense in the history of modern scientific observations, and hence is considered to be the benchmark event for space weather. The magnetic storm caused worldwide observations of auroras even at very low latitudes such as Hawaii, Panama, or Santiago, and the available magnetic field measurement at Bombay, India, showed two peaks: the main was the Carrington event which occurred in day time in East Asia, and a second storm after the Carrington event which occurred at night in East Asia. In this paper,…
The study of historical great geomagnetic storms is crucial for assessing the possible risks to the technological infrastructure of a modern society, caused by extreme space-weather events. The normal benchmark has been the great geomagnetic storm of September 1859, the so-called "Carrington Event". However, there are numerous records of another great geomagnetic storm in February 1872. This storm, about 12 years after the Carrington Event, resulted in comparable magnetic disturbances and auroral displays over large areas of the Earth. We have revisited this great geomagnetic storm in terms of…
The Carrington storm (September 1/2, 1859) is one of the largest magnetic storms ever observed and it has caused global auroral displays in low-latitude areas, together with a series of multiple magnetic storms during August 28 and September 4, 1859. In this study, we revisit contemporary auroral observation records to extract information on their elevation angle, color, and direction to investigate this stormy interval in detail. We first examine their equatorward boundary of "auroral emission with multiple colors" based on descriptions of elevation angle and color. We find that their locatio…
Solar Cycle 19 was probably the greatest solar cycle over the last four centuries and significantly disrupted the solar-terrestrial environments with a number of solar eruptions and resultant geomagnetic storms. At its peak, the International Geophysical Year (IGY: 1957 -- 1958) was organised by international collaborations and benefitted scientific developments, capturing multiple unique extreme space weather events including the third and fourth greatest geomagnetic storms in the space age. In this article, we review and analyse original records of Japanese auroral observations around the IG…
The Maunder Minimum (1645-1715) is currently considered the only grand minimum within telescopic sunspot observations since 1610. During this epoch, the Sun was extremely quiet and unusually free from sunspots. However, despite reduced frequency, candidate aurorae were reported in the mid-European sector during this period and have been associated with occurrences of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), whereas some of them have been identified as misinterpretations. Here, we have analysed reports of candidate aurorae on 1 June 1680 with simultaneous observations in mid-Europe, and c…
Space weather events produce variations in the electric current in the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere. From these high altitude atmospheric regions, resulting geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) can lead to fluctuations in ground currents that affect the electric power grid and potentially overload transformers during extreme storms. The most extreme geomagnetic storm on record, known as the 1859 Carrington event, was so intense that ground-based magnetometers were saturated at high magnetic latitudes. The most reliable, un-saturated observation is the hour-resolution data from the C…
Aims. Historical records provide evidence of extreme magnetic storms with equatorward auroral extensions before the epoch of systematic magnetic observations. One significant magnetic storm occurred on February 15, 1730. We scale this magnetic storm with auroral extension and contextualise it based on contemporary solar activity. Methods. We examined historical records in East Asia and computed the magnetic latitude (MLAT) of observational sites to scale magnetic storms. We also compared them with auroral records in Southern Europe. We examined contemporary sunspot observations to reconstruct …
Although knowing the occurrence frequency of severe space weather events is important for a modern society, it is insufficiently known due to the lack of magnetic or sunspot observations, before the Carrington event in 1859 known as one of the largest events during the last two centuries. Here, we show that a severe magnetic storm occurred on 8 March 1582 based on auroral records in East Asia. The equatorward boundary of auroral visibility reached 28.8° magnetic latitude. The equatorward boundary of the auroral oval is estimated to be 33.0° invariant latitude (ILAT), which is comparable to the…
Dim red aurora at low magnetic latitudes is a visual and recognized manifestation of geomagnetic storms. The great low-latitude auroral displays seen throughout East Asia on 16-18 September 1770 are considered to manifest one of the greatest storms. Recently found 111 historical documents in East Asia attest that these low-latitude auroral displays were succeeding for almost 9 nights during 10-19 September 1770 in the lowest magnetic latitude areas (< 30°). This suggests that the duration of the great magnetic storm is much longer than usual. Sunspot drawings from 1770 reveals the fact that su…
It is paramount from both scientific and societal perspectives to understand the generation of extreme space weather. We discuss the formation of solar superstorms based on a comparative study of the 2012 July 23 and 2017 July 23 eruptions. The first one is Carrington-class, and the second could rival the 1989 March event that caused the most intense geomagnetic storm of the space age. Observations of these events in the historically weak solar cycle 24 indicate that a solar superstorm can occur in any solar cycle and at any phase of the cycle. Recurrent patterns are identified in both cases, …
On Thursday, September 1, 1859, the British astronomer Richard Carrington, for the first time ever, observes a spectacular gleam of visible light on the surface of the solar disk, the photosphere. The Carrington Event, as it is nowadays known by scientists, occurred because of the high solar activity that had visible consequences on Earth, in particular reports of outstanding aurorae activity that amazed thousands of people in the western hemisphere during the dawn of September 2. The geomagnetic storm, generated by the solar-terrestrial event, had such a magnitude that the auroral oval expand…
36Cl Concentrations from Polar Ice Cores Set New Constraints on the Carrington Event
Stockholm University（斯德哥尔摩大学）；Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization（澳大利亚核科学与技术组织）；United Arab Emirates University（阿联酋大学）；Eawag（瑞士联邦水科学与技术研究所）；ETH Zurich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Nagoya University（名古屋大学）；University of Tasmania（塔斯马尼亚大学）；Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main（法兰克福歌德大学）；University of Bern（伯尔尼大学）；Fujian Normal University（福建师范大学）；Lund University（隆德大学）
Major solar eruptions occasionally direct interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) to Earth and cause significant geomagnetic storms and low-latitude aurorae. While single extreme storms are of significant threats to the modern civilization, storms occasionally appear in sequence and, acting synergistically, cause 'perfect storms' at Earth. The stormy interval in January 1938 was one of such cases. Here, we analyze the contemporary records to reveal its time series on their source active regions, solar eruptions, ICMEs, geomagnetic storms, low-latitude aurorae, and cosmic-ray (CR) variati…
While low latitude auroral displays are normally considered to be a manifestation of magnetic storms of considerable size, Silverman (2003, JGR, 108, A4) reported numerous "sporadic auroras" which appear locally at relatively low magnetic latitudes during times of just moderate magnetic activity. Here, a case study is presented of an aurora near the geomagnetic equator based on a report from the Philippine Islands on 27 October 1856. An analysis of this report shows it to be consistent with the known cases of sporadic aurorae except for its considerably low magnetic latitude. The record also s…
This section shows an overview of a recent development of the studies on great space weather events in history. Its discussion starts from the Carrington event and compare its intensity with the extreme storms within the coverage of the regular magnetic measurements. Extending its analyses back beyond their onset, this section shows several case studies of extreme storms with sunspot records in the telescopic observations and candidate auroral records in historical records. Before the onset of telescopic observations, this section shows the chronological coverages of the records of unaided-eye…
Given the infrequency of extreme geomagnetic storms, it is significant to note the concentration of three extreme geomagnetic storms in 1941, whose intensities ranked fourth, twelfth, and fifth within the aa index between 1868-2010. Among them, the geomagnetic storm on 1 March 1941 was so intense that three of the four Dst station magnetograms went off scale. Herein, we reconstruct its time series and measure the storm intensity with an alternative Dst estimate (Dst*). The source solar eruption at 09:29 - 09:38 GMT on 28 February was located at RGO AR 13814 and its significant intensity is con…
We trace the evolution of research on extreme solar and solar-terrestrial events from the 1859 Carrington event to the rapid development of the last twenty years. Our focus is on the largest observed/inferred/theoretical cases of sunspot groups, flares on the Sun and Sun-like stars, coronal mass ejections, solar proton events, and geomagnetic storms. The reviewed studies are based on modern observations, historical or long-term data including the auroral and cosmogenic radionuclide record, and Kepler observations of Sun-like stars. We compile a table of 100- and 1000-year events based on occur…
While the Sun is generally more eruptive during its maximum and declining phases, observational evidence shows certain cases of powerful solar eruptions during the quiet phase of the solar activity. Occurring in the weak Solar Cycle 14 just after its minimum, the extreme space weather event in 1903 October -- November was one of these cases. Here, we reconstruct the time series of geomagnetic activity based on contemporary observational records. With the mid-latitude magnetograms, the 1903 magnetic storm is thought to be caused by a fast coronal mass ejection (~1500 km/s) and is regarded as an…
Solar wind streams, acting as background, govern the propagation of space weather drivers in the heliosphere, which induce geomagnetic storm activities. Therefore, predictions of the solar wind parameters are the core of space weather forecasts. This work presents an indigenous three-dimensional (3D) Solar Wind model (SWASTi-SW). This numerical framework for forecasting the ambient solar wind is based on a well-established scheme that uses a semi-empirical coronal model and a physics-based inner heliospheric model. This study demonstrates a more generalized version of Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) r…
Space Weather is the portion of space physics that has a direct effect on humankind. Space Weather is an old branch of space physics that originates back to 1808 with the publication of a paper by the great naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (von Humboldt, 1808). Space Weather is currently experiencing explosive growth, because its effects on human technologies have become more and more diverse. Space Weather is due to the variability of solar processes that cause interplanetary, magnetospheric, ionospheric, atmospheric and ground level effects. Space Weather can at times have strong impacts on…
Magnetic reconnection requires the violation of the frozen-in condition which ties gyrating charged particles to the magnetic field inhibiting diffusion. Ongoing reconnection has been identified in near-Earth space as being responsible for the excitation of substorms, magnetic storms, generation of field aligned currents and their consequences, the wealth of auroral phenomena. Its theoretical understanding is now on the verge of being completed. Reconnection takes place in thin current sheets. Analytical concepts proceeded gradually down to the microscopic scale, the scale of the electron skin…
