To the naked eye, the Sun is a perfect golden disc, and has inspired awe and reverence for millennia. Look more closely though, and you may see flaws in that heavenly complexion. When sunspots were discovered in the 17th century, astronomers debated what they might be: the tops of solar mountains glimpsed through gaps in the clouds, the eyes of immense hurricanes, or something else entirely?
They also wondered what effect the regular waxing and waning of these curious phenomena might have on life on Earth. The effects of sunspots on the weather, the economy, and much else have been a subject of research and heated argument – and none more heated than when it comes to their impact on climate change.
One thing we do know is that sunspots bring solar storms. In 1859 astronomer Richard Carrington observed an event which was dramatic at the time but which is likely to be devastating the next time it happens. And while giant meteors only strike Earth every few thousand years, another Carrington Event is likely in the next few decades. To understand why, we need to look at a little bit of scientific history.
A SPOT OF TROUBLE FOR GALILEO
The Pisan astronomer and proto-scientist Galileo Galilei is often credited with discovering sunspots in 1610. His claim of primacy is widely quoted, even though he was certainly not the first to see them.
Astronomers in previous centuries had documented curious markings which appeared on the face of the Sun, changed, moved and disappeared some days later. Nobody in Galileo’s Europe was aware of Chinese records of sunspots dating back to 28 BC, and John of Worcester’s description of them in an 1128 chronicle had been overlooked.
Several of Galileo’s contemporaries equipped with newly invented telescopes were also observing sunspots at very much the same time – notably Thomas Harriott, who saw them in 1609, and Johannes Fabricius, whosunspots until a public debate in 1612.
