Space Explosion to Blame for Tree Ring Mystery

in Space / by / on January 21, 2013 at 14:00 /

More than 1,200 years ago, some mysterious event was recorded in tree rings in a Japanese cedar forest. While one study suggested a solar flare was to blame, a new group of researchers are pointing toward a gamma-ray burst, a powerful space explosion. The ancient cedar trees record a rare event around 774 or 775 A.D. This shows up in a sharp rise in the amount of radioactive carbon-14 and beryllium-10 recorded in the trees’ rings, which can be created by incoming particles from space…..

Image credit: NASA / Dana Berry

Full Article Source

Leave a Comment