List of solar storms

Solar storms are caused by disturbances on the Sun, most often coronal clouds associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) produced by solar flares emanating from active sunspot regions, or, less often, from coronal holes.

Background

Active stars produce disturbances in space weather with the field of heliophysics the science that studies such phenomena; itself primarily an interdisciplinary combination of stellar astronomy and planetary science. In the Solar System, the Sun can produce intense geomagnetic and proton storms capable of causing severe damage to technology including but not limited to large scale power outages, disruption or blackouts of radio communications (including GPS), and temporary to permanent disabling of satellites and other spaceborne technology. Intense solar storms may also be hazardous to high-latitude, high-altitude aviation and to human spaceflight.^[1] Geomagnetic storms are the cause of auroras.^[2] The most significant known solar storm occurred in September 1859 and is known as the "Carrington event".^[3] The damage from the most potent solar storms is capable of existentially threatening the stability of modern human civilization,^[4][5] although proper preparedness and mitigation can substantially reduce the hazards.^[6] Proxy data from Earth, as well as analysis of stars similar to the Sun suggest that it may be capable of producing so called superflares, those which are much larger than any flares in the historical record (as much as 1000x stronger every 5000 years).^[7][8]

Notable events

Electromagnetic, geomagnetic, and/or proton storms

Proxy evidence

• 2225 BCE^[9]
• 1485 BCE^[9]
• 95 CE^[9]
• 265 CE^[9]
• 774–775 carbon-14 spike^[10] — connected to the "Red Crucifix" aurora over British Isles and environs
• 993-994 carbon-14 spike^[11]
• 1460 CE^[9]
• 1505 CE^[9]
• 1707 CE^[9]
• 1709 CE^[9]
• 1719 CE^[9]
• 1810 CE^[9]

Direct measurements

• Solar storm of 1859 ("Carrington event")
• Aurora of November 17, 1882
• May 1921 geomagnetic storm
• 25-26 January 1938 geomagnetic storm ("Fátima storm")
• 17-19 September 1941 solar storm^[12]
• Late May 1967 solar storms^[13]
• March 1989 geomagnetic storm
• August 1989^[14]
• Bastille Day event of July 14, 2000
• Halloween solar storms, 2003^[15]

Events not affecting Earth

The above events affected Earth (and its vicinity, known as the magnetosphere), whereas the following events occurred elsewhere in the solar system and were detected by monitoring spacecraft or other means.

• 4 November 2003 - ^[16][17][18]
• Solar storm of 2012, 23 July - ^{[19][20][21][22][23]}

See also

• Gamma-ray burst and hypernova
• Health threat from cosmic rays
• Heliosphere and solar wind / interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)
• List of coronal mass ejections
• Solar cycle
• Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)

References

1. Phillips, Tony (21 Jan 2009). "Severe Space Weather--Social and Economic Impacts". NASA Science News. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
2. "NOAA Space Weather Scales". NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. 1 Mar 2005. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
3. Bell, Trudy E.; T. Phillips (6 May 2008). "A Super Solar Flare". NASA Science News. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
4. Kappenman, John (2010). Geomagnetic Storms and Their Impacts on the U.S. Power Grid (PDF). META-R. 319. Goleta, CA: Metatech Corporation for Oak Ridge National Laboratory. OCLC 811858155.
5. Phillips, Tony (21 Jan 2009). "Severe Space Weather--Social and Economic Impacts". Science at NASA. NASA. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
6. National Space Weather Action Plan (PDF). Washington, DC: National Science and Technology Council. 28 Oct 2015.
7. Shibata, Kazunari (15 Apr 2015). "Superflares on Solar Type Stars and Their Implications on the Possibility of Superflares on the Sun" (PDF). 2015 Space Weather Workshop. Boulder, CO: Space Weather Prediction Center.
8. Karoff, Christoffer; et al (2016). "Observational evidence for enhanced magnetic activity of superflare stars". Nat. Commun. 7 (11058). Bibcode:2016NatCo...711058K. doi:10.1038/ncomms11058. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthor= (help)
9. Usoskin, Ilya G.; Gennady A. Kovaltsov (2012). "Occurrence of Extreme Solar Particle Events: Assessment from Historical Proxy Data". The Astrophysical Journal. 757 (92): 1–6. arXiv:1207.5932. Bibcode:2012ApJ...757...92U. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/757/1/92.
10. Melott, Adrian L.; B. C. Thomas (2012). "Causes of an AD 774–775 14C increase". Nature. 491 (7426). arXiv:1212.0490. Bibcode:2012Natur.491E...1M. doi:10.1038/nature11695.
11. Fusa, Miyake; Kimiaki Masuda; Toshio Nakamura (2013). "Another rapid event in the carbon-14 content of tree rings". Nature Communications. 4 (1748): 1–4. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4E1748M. doi:10.1038/ncomms2783.
12. Love, Jeffrey J.; Coïsson, P. (15 Sep 2016). "The Geomagnetic Blitz of September 1941". Eos. 97. doi:10.1029/2016EO059319.
13. Knipp, Delores J.; A. C. Ramsay, E. D. Beard, A. L. Boright, W. B. Cade, I. M. Hewins, R. McFadden, W. F. Denig, L. M. Kilcommons, M. A. Shea, D. F. Smart (2016). "The May 1967 Great Storm and Radio Disruption Event: Extreme Space Weather and Extraordinary Responses". Space Weather. doi:10.1002/2016SW001423. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)
14. Deffree, Suzanne (16 Aug 2013). "Solar flare impacts microchips, August 16, 1989". EDN.
15. Weaver, Michael; W. Murtagh; et al. (2004). Halloween Space Weather Storms of 2003 (PDF). NOAA Technical Memorandum. OAR SEC-88. Boulder, CO: Space Environment Center. OCLC 68692085.
16. Thomson, Neil R.; C. J. Rodger; R. L. Dowden (2004). "Ionosphere gives size of greatest solar flare". Geophysical Research Letters. 31 (6). Bibcode:2004GeoRL..31.6803T. doi:10.1029/2003GL019345.
17. Thomson, Neil R.; C. J. Rodger; M. A. Clilverd (2005). "Large solar flares and their ionospheric D region enhancements". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 110 (A6). Bibcode:2005JGRA..110.6306T. doi:10.1029/2005JA011008.
18. Brodrick, David; S. Tingay; M. Wieringa (2005). "X-ray magnitude of the 4 November 2003 solar flare inferred from the ionospheric attenuation of the galactic radio background". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 110 (A9). Bibcode:2005JGRA..110.9S36B. doi:10.1029/2004JA010960.
19. Baker, D. N.; X. Li; A. Pulkkinen; C. M. Ngwira; M. L. Mays; A. B. Galvin; K. D. C. Simunac (2013). "A major solar eruptive event in July 2012: Defining extreme space weather scenarios". Space Weather. 11 (10): 585–91. Bibcode:2013SpWea..11..585B. doi:10.1002/swe.20097.
20. Ngwira, Chigomezyo M.; A. Pulkkinen2; M. Leila Mays; M. M. Kuznetsova; A. B. Galvin; K. Simunac; D. N. Baker; X. Li; Y. Zheng; A. Glocer (2013). "Simulation of the 23 July 2012 extreme space weather event: What if this extremely rare CME was Earth directed?". Space Weather. 11 (12): 671–9. Bibcode:2013SpWea..11..671N. doi:10.1002/2013SW000990.
21. Ying D. Liu, J. G. Luhmann, P. Kajdič, E. K.J. Kilpua, N. Lugaz, N. V. Nitta, C. Möstl, B. Lavraud, S. D. Bale, C. J. Farrugia, A. B. Galvin (2014). "Observations of an extreme storm in interplanetary space caused by successive coronal mass ejections". Nature Communications. 5 (3481). arXiv:1405.6088. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5E3481L. doi:10.1038/ncomms4481.
22. Phillips, Tony (2 May 2014). "Carrington-class CME Narrowly Misses Earth". NASA Science News. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
23. Phillips, Dr. Tony (23 July 2014). "Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012". NASA. Retrieved 26 July 2014.

• Cliver, E.W.; L. Svalgaard (2004). "The 1859 Solar–Terrestrial Disturbance and the Current Limits of Extreme Space Weather Activity" (PDF). Solar Physics. 224 (1-2): 407–22. Bibcode:2004SoPh..224..407C. doi:10.1007/s11207-005-4980-z.

External links

• The Most Powerful Solar Flares Ever Recorded (NASA's SpaceWeather.com)
• Solar Proton Events Affecting the Earth Environment (1976 - present) (SWPC)
• Archive of the most severe solar storms (Solarstorms.org)
• GOES X-ray Solar Imager Greatest Hits