Researchers discover 131-year-old record of a 'extraordinary phenomenon,' as white-light solar flare spotted by a 17 year old in 1886 cast a shadow on the sun

  • On Sept 10 1886, amateur astronomer Juan Valderrama y Aguilar saw the flare
  • The 17-year-old spotted it using just a small telescope with a solar filter
  • Experts say it's the third white-light flare on record, chronologically

Researchers have uncovered a century-old record of a rare white-light solar flare, spotted in 1886 by a 17-year-old using just a modest telescope.

It was described by the amateur astronomer as an 'extraordinary phenomenon,' with a beam of light emanating from a nearly circular object that cast a shadow on the sun.

The experts now say it's the third white-light flare documented, chronologically, in the history of solar physics – and somehow remained unnoticed until now. 

At the time, amateur astronomer Juan Valderrama y Aguilar wrote about what he saw from Madrid, and even drew a picture to illustrate it. It was described as ¿extraordinary,¿ with a beam of light emanating from a nearly circular object that cast a shadow on the sun

At the time, amateur astronomer Juan Valderrama y Aguilar wrote about what he saw from Madrid, and even drew a picture to illustrate it. It was described as 'extraordinary,' with a beam of light emanating from a nearly circular object that cast a shadow on the sun

THE FIRST KNOWN SOLAR FLARES 

September 1, 1859: British astronomer Richard C Carrington (independently observed by Richard Hodgson) 

It came amid one of the largest geomagnetic storms on record, now known as the Carrington Event, which caused telegraph systems across Europe and North America to fail.

In some cases, the telegraph operators even reported experiencing electric shocks from their systems.

November 13, 1872: Italian astronomer Pietro Angelo Secchi

September 10, 1886: 17-year-old amateur astronomer Juan Valderrama y Aguilar describes a white-light solar flare, spotted from Madrid

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The team from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the Universidad de Extremadura discovered the record of the sunspot dating to September 10 1886 published in a French scientific journal.

At the time, amateur astronomer Juan Valderrama y Aguilar wrote about what he saw from Madrid, and even drew a picture to illustrate the 'huge, beautiful' phenomenon.

'A huge, beautiful sunspot was formed from yesterday to today,' the observation states.

'It is elongated due to its proximity to the limb…by looking at it carefully I noticed an extraordinary phenomenon on her, on the penumbra to the west of the nucleus, and almost in contact with it, a very bright object was distinguishable producing a shadow clearly visible on the sunspot penumbra.

'This object had an almost circular shape, and a light beam came out from its eastern part that crossed the sunspot to the south of the nucleus, producing a shadow on the penumbra that was lost in the large mass of faculae surrounding the eastern extreme of the sunspot.'

Valderrama was equipped only with a small telescope, with an aperture of just 6.6 centimeters, and a neutral density filter to dim the sunlight.

After documenting his observation, the 17-year-old submitted his work to the French journal L'Astronomie, where it was then published.

Researchers have uncovered a century-old record of a rare white-light solar flare, spotted in 1886 by a 17-year-old using just a modest telescope. The experts say it¿s the third flare documented in the history of solar physics. A stock image is pictured

Researchers have uncovered a century-old record of a rare white-light solar flare, spotted in 1886 by a 17-year-old using just a modest telescope. The experts say it's the third flare documented in the history of solar physics. A stock image is pictured

HOW SOLAR FLARES AFFECT EARTH

Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.

Astronauts are not in immediate danger because of the relatively low orbit of this manned mission.

But, there are concerns about cumulative exposure from space walks.

The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing the Earth's magnetic field.

Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies. 

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'The case of Valderrama is very unique, as he was the only person in the world more than a century ago to observe a relatively rare phenomenon: a white-light solar flare,' says José Manuel Vaquero, a lecturer at the University of Extremadura.

'And until now no one had realized.'

Solar flares occur in the outermost layers of the sun's atmosphere, as the magnetic field changes configuration and releases energy.

In today's world, powerful space weather events can cause disruptions to satellites, radio communications, and GPS systems, among other effects.

According to the experts, Valderrama spotted what's known as a white-light solar flare, creating an incredibly bright, flash.

Solar flares occur in the outermost layers of the sun¿s atmosphere, as the magnetic field changes configuration and releases energy. The image above shows several giant sunspots, observed on October 28, 2003 

Solar flares occur in the outermost layers of the sun's atmosphere, as the magnetic field changes configuration and releases energy. The image above shows several giant sunspots, observed on October 28, 2003 

'White-light flares correspond to the most extreme cases of this phenomenon, where so much energy is dumped into the chromosphere and corona that the energy propagates downward to the photosphere, heating it up, and producing the excess brightness that we observe in white light,' said Jorge Sánchez Almeida, of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC).

'It is extraordinary that in the Spain of the 19th century, a 17-year-old kid would make such a scientific discovery, and it is even more impressive that he had the courage of submitting it for publication to a foreign scientific journal.'

'Furthermore, the white-light flare observed by Valderrama is, chronologically, the third one recorded in the history of solar physics.

The researchers are now working to publish a biography about the little-known astronomer who made a remarkable discovery more than 100 years ago.