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Historical Auroras in the 990s: Evidence of Great Magnetic Storms

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Abstract

A significant carbon-14 enhancement has recently been found in tree rings for the year 994, suggesting an extremely strong and brief cosmic ray flux event. The origin of this particular cosmic ray event has not been confirmed, but one possibility is that it might be of solar origin. Contemporary historical records of low-latitude auroras can be used as supporting evidence of intense solar activity around that time. We investigate previously reported as well as new records that have been found in contemporary observations from the 990s to determine potential auroras. Records of potential red auroras in late 992 and early 993 were found around the world, i.e. in the Korean Peninsula, Saxonian cities in modern Germany, and the Island of Ireland, suggesting the occurrence of an intense geomagnetic storm driven by solar activity.

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Notes

  1. Note that Lee et al. (2004) and Stephenson (2015) transcribe the same official history () as “Koryosa.” In our article, we transcribe Korean terms based on the Romanization scheme called “Revised Romanization of Korean.”

  2. Although Fritz (1873) lacked the date of this event, Short (1749), who is the source for this record, stated its date as 992.01.07.

  3. In the following reference of historical documents, we consult mainly the original manuscripts. Where we consult both manuscripts and critical editions, we use abbreviations of -MS for manuscripts and -CE for critical editions.

  4. Although shortened forms are frequently used in the original manuscripts, we show their original form in the original text given in this paper. For example, while “primo” is frequently given as “pmo.,” we show the former to show their original form.

  5. Here, the month is only given as “twelfth month” in the traditional calendar, while the date is not specified.

  6. Here, dd and mm means day and month.

  7. See, section of Meiwa seventh year, seventh month, date 28, in MS 16.28-11-11, Kanazawa City Library.

  8. Note that GRS only shows us the month in the traditional calendar (the twelfth month) and does not specify the date of observation, while other records for aurora-like events are given with the exact date.

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Acknowledgements

We thank T. Nagamoto for bibliographical information on the medieval western calendar system, H. Arimitsu for technical advice on transliteration of Saxonian manuscripts, D.P. Cabezas for grammatical advice, M. Takakuwa and M. Hayakawa for giving us advice and insights on medieval western history and contemporary documents, and F. Miyake for interpreting the carbon-14 spike in 993/994, although the responsibility for the text rests entirely upon the authors. We also acknowledge the support from the Center for the Promotion of Integrated Sciences (CPIS) of SOKENDAI, the Kyoto University’s Supporting Program for Interaction-based Initiative Team Studies “Integrated study on human in space” (PI: H. Isobe), the Interdisciplinary Research Idea Contest 2014 by the Center of Promotion Interdisciplinary Education and Research, the “UCHUGAKU” project of the Unit of Synergetic Studies for Space, and the Exploratory and Mission Research Projects of the Research Institute of Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University. This work was also encouraged by Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Grant Number JP15H05816 (PI: S. Yoden), JP15H03732 (PI: Y. Ebihara), and JP15H05815 (PI: Y. Miyoshi).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, 6068501, Kyoto, Japan

    Hisashi Hayakawa

  2. Kwasan Observatory, Kyoto University, 6078471, Kyoto, Japan

    Harufumi Tamazawa

  3. Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo, 113-0033, Tokyo, Japan

    Yurina Uchiyama

  4. Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, 6110011, Uji, Japan

    Yusuke Ebihara

  5. Unit of Synergetic Studies for Space, Kyoto University, 6068502, Kyoto, Japan

    Yusuke Ebihara & Hiroaki Isobe

  6. Musashino Art University, 1878505, Kodaira, Japan

    Hiroko Miyahara

  7. Graduate School of Letters, Tohoku University, 9808576, Sendai, Japan

    Shunsuke Kosaka

  8. National Institute for Japanese Literature, 1900014, Tachikawa, Japan

    Kiyomi Iwahashi

  9. Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, 6068306, Kyoto, Japan

    Hiroaki Isobe

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  1. Hisashi Hayakawa
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Hayakawa, H., Tamazawa, H., Uchiyama, Y. et al. Historical Auroras in the 990s: Evidence of Great Magnetic Storms. Sol Phys 292, 12 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-016-1039-2

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