How do ancient Chinese literature describe solar storms?

The beautiful red and green bands of light are actually the aurora borealis, created when geomagnetic storms, also known as solar storms, hit Earth. For the aurora to reach as far as China, it would have to be an intense storm of energy, even accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME), in the form of a plasma ball smashing directly into the Earth’s atmosphere. Land.

The ancient Chinese literature mentioned is the famous Bamboo Chronicle, which is recorded on bamboo cards. The Bamboo Chronicle records Chinese history “the mythical period”, from 2400 BC to 299 BC.

According to research just published in Advances in Space Research, the event was confirmed when special radioactive isotopes were found in the geological sediments of China, with the corresponding date – the 10th century BC. Yuan, possibly between 957 and 977, more than 3,000 years ago.

When geomagnetic storms and fireballs hit the Earth, particles in the solar wind will interact with the atmosphere to create characteristic radioactive isotopes, The Independent explain.

According to Ancient Origins, Another reason why it was so easy for the Chinese to see the aurora borealis at that time was that the position of the Earth’s magnetic pole was different than it is today, as revealed by paleomagnetic data in the rock. 3,000 years ago, the Earth’s northern magnetic pole was tilted towards Eurasia, with a deviation of the planet’s axis of about 15 degrees relative to today.

Therefore, the new discovery has raised the value of the Bamboo Chronicle, because it is not only a historical document but also valuable. science In many aspects.