On the connection between Comet Biela and the Carrington Event

Introduction

The Carrington Event, observed from August 26 to September 7, 1859, was characterised by abnormal geomagnetic disturbances, low-latitude aurorae, and ignitions in the telegraph lines. Researchers believe that interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), linked to solar flares on August 28/29 and September 1/2, 1859, caused two impacts on Earth. The second flare [1] was identified as a white-light flare (WLF) in the continuum spectrum. Although no active/geoeffective sunspots/WLFs were recorded on August 28/29, aurorae were observed more widely than on September 2, 1859 [2]. Proponents of the Carrington Event solar origin hypothesis cannot explain the brightness of aurorae, comparable to full moon illumination, nor their isolation in El Salvador on September 2/3, 1859, from other low-latitude aurorae [2]. However, in 1859, astronomers anticipated observing Andromedids meteors and two secondary comets resulting from the fragmentation of Comet 3D/Biela in 1846. The precise date, August 26, and observations of both these secondary comets in 1852 [3] and geomagnetic storms in 1859 [4] suggest a connection between the Biela fragments and the 1859 Carrington Event.

The Aurorae

According to the Smithsonian Institution collection [5], there were reports on Gamma-Andromeda, i.e., Andromedids meteors. Professor Hansteen from Christiania, Norway, observed that the auroral ray was directly related to Gamma-Andromeda. In St. Nottingham, England, an auroral dome near Gamma-Andromeda was reported. Despite poor weather conditions during the Carrington Event, fiery columns were visible in Rome through the clouds. In the USA, observers described fiery arrows flying like a dreadful bombardment, and also a rapidly falling star on 28 August, and eight meteors on 1/2 September. Over Civitavecchia Bay, Italy, sailors directly associated the fiery column with a comet [6], which is consistent with the abnormal geomagnetic disturbance recorded at the Rome Observatory. A meteor exploded over the town Mount Gambier, Australia, prompting an immediate aurora. This explosion, along with the aurora, was also observed in Adelaide [7]. The aurorae brightness in 1859 was equivalent to the surface illumination during a full moon at ~0.2 lux, corresponding to a meteor/fireball luminosity of ~40×10⁹ cd at a distance of ~450 km [2]. Thus, meteor explosions could have caused the Carrington Event aurorae. In 1859, the maximum diameter of the auroral ray bunch was ~20 miles or ~32.2 km [9], and the space corresponding to each visible meteor in the 1885 Andromedids shower was equal to a cube with an edge of ~32.8 km [10]. However, the standard diameter of the auroral ray bunch associated with ICMEs is only ~1 km [8]. In 1868, e.g., meteorites with identical compositions fell in Poland, Madagascar, and Italy [2]. Similarly, the aurorae in 1859 could have been observed due to Andromedids meteors in many locations, including isolated low-latitude areas.

Comets suppress planetary magnetospheres

The magnetic field strength of the ICME’s sheath, reaching a maximum ~40 nT [11], was insufficient for the interplanetary electric field (IEF) during the geomagnetic storm at Colaba on September 2, 1859; furthermore, the Dst profile revealed no indication of a complex storm. Consequently, ICME’s sheath magnetic fields are dismissed as the IEF’s source for the Carrington storm [11,12]. Geomagnetic storms caused by solar flares should have well-known effects on Earth. For instance, the WLF is accompanied by solar energetic particles (SEP) and cosmogenic radionuclides in the atmosphere. The characteristic white aurorae of the Carrington Event should have correlated with high ¹⁴C levels associated with SEP [13]. The SEP fluence was estimated as F>30 MeV for the Carrington storm. However, significant levels of cosmogenic nuclides ¹⁴C [14,15], ¹⁰Be [14], or ³⁶Cl [16], as well as nitrates [17], were not detected in the 1859 deposits. Therefore, the SEP fluence of F>30 MeV is questionable. Although Comet 3D/Biela disintegrated in the 1840s, its two secondary comets and the Andromedids moved along its orbit as a compact group. This group probably contained magnetic components since the Mazapil iron meteorite fell during the 1885 Andromedids maximum. Possessing a magnetic field, either their own or created through ionization by the solar wind, these fragments could suppress the geomagnetic field and trigger geomagnetic storms. On 28/29 August and 1/2 September 1859, geomagnetic storms had exactly a 6-hour period, equal to the 6-hour passage of the 1885 Andromedids when this meteor shower crossed Earth [2]. The external magnetic field required for the Carrington storm on September 2, 1859, was ~90 nT [12]. On Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the spacecraft recorded a magnetic field of ~300 nT in 2015. Magnetic fields of secondary comets/meteors of Comet 3D/Biela, given both probable iron fragments in them and the compression by WLF plasma on September 1/2, 1859, could have been even stronger. An analogy to the Earth’s intersection with 3D/Biela fragments was the collision of Comet Siding Spring with Mars in 2014, when the cometary magnetic field suppressed the Martian magnetosphere. This collision resembled a solar storm because the cometary plasma density is two orders greater than in the solar wind [2]. Even after the comet left Mars, the spacecraft measured disturbances in the magnetosphere. Similarly, after the historical peak on September 2, 1859, geomagnetic disturbances continued until September 7, 1859.

Comets and solar white-light flares interdependence

As in 1859, the WLF on November 13, 1872, was associated with the Andromedids activation. This suggests a potential connection between solar white-light flares and comets/meteors. The longitudes of orbits of the Sun and 3D/Biela, before the comet's disintegration, were close. This admits their further synchronization [2]. Due to the magnetic field initiated by the Langmuir rotating waves both from the Sun and comets, the pinch-effect mechanism provides dense plasma dust filaments and their activation/discharge over long-range distances. Universum, probably, is permeated with such filaments [18,19].

Conclusion

The conventional paradigm, postulating two ICMEs, cannot explain the aurorae and geomagnetic characteristics of the Carrington Event. However, the interpretation based on the intersection of fragments/meteors from Comet 3D/Biela with Earth successfully explains these phenomena. While the 3D/Biela Comet probably no longer exists, the comets with magnetic nuclei/compositions, possessing enormous electrical charges, threaten our civilization.

References

[1]_R.Carrington_(1859)_https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/20.1.13

[2]_B.German_(2024)_https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10336.19201

[3]_G.Kronk_(1999)_http://cometography.com/pcomets/003d.html

[4]_D.Smart_et_al._(2006)_https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2005.04.116

[5]_E.Loomis_(1860)_https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.s2-30.88.79

[6]_S.Blake_et_al._(2020)_https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JA027336 (Appendix_B.1)

[7]_J.Green_et_al._(2006)_https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2005.12.021

[8]_G.Baranoski_et_al._(2003)_https://doi.org/10.1002/vis.304 p.47

[9]_E.Loomis_(1861)_https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.s2-32.96.318 p.322

[10]_H.Newton_(1886)_http://www.meteoritehistory.info/AJS/S3VIEWS/V31P424.HTM (p.425_Summary)

[11]_B.Tsurutani_et_ al._(2003)_https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JA009504

[12]_B.Tsurutani_et_al._(2023)_https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JA031034

[13]_D.Abbot&R.Juhl_(2016)_https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2016.07.015

[14]_I.Usoskin&G.Kovaltsov_(2012)_http://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/757/1/92

[15]_J.Uusitalo_et_al._(2024)_https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106632

[16]_F.Miyake_et_al._(2023)_https://doi.org/10.1051/swsc/2023030

[17]_E.Wolff_et_al._(2012)_https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051603

[18]_W.Thornhill&D.Talbott_(2006)_https://www.thunderbolts.info/pdf/ElectricComet.pdf

[19]_A.Peratt_(2015)_https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4614-7819-5_12