Эрдэмтэд 1841 онд болсон гэж үздэг байсан төмөр замын саатлыг 1848 оны хүчтэй соронзон шуургатай холбоотой болохыг тогтоожээ.
Ланкастерийн их сургуулийн судлаачид 1871 онд Nature сэтгүүлд нийтлэгдсэн, Английн Эксетер хотод болсон төмөр замын үйл ажиллагааны доголдлыг судалжээ. Анхны тайланд уг үйл явдлыг 1841 онд болсон гэж тэмдэглэсэн байсан ч судалгааны баг тэр үед тухайн төмөр замын шугам ашиглалтад ороогүй байсныг илрүүлэв. Түүхийн архив болон төмөр замын бүртгэлд хийсэн шинжилгээгээр тус шугам 1846 онд нээгдсэн нь тогтоогдсон тул 1841 оны он сар нь хэвлэлийн алдаа байсныг баталжээ.
Судлаачид Greenwich Magnetic Observatory-ийн соронзон хэмжилтийн түүхэн өгөгдлийг ашиглан 1848 оны аравдугаар сард хүчтэй соронзон шуурга болсныг тогтоосон байна. Мөн тухайн үеийн сонины мэдээлэл болон одон орон судлаач Тэмпл Чеваллиерийн нарны толбоны ажиглалтын тэмдэглэл нь уг үйл явдал 1848 оны аравдугаар сард болсныг нотолж байна.
Энэхүү олдвор нь сансрын цаг уур нь цахилгаан технологийн эхэн үеэс эхлэн хүний үйл ажиллагаанд нөлөөлж байсныг харуулж байна. Өмнө нь сансрын цаг уурын нөлөөлөл гэж үздэг байсан энэхүү хэргийг ийнхүү дахин тодорхойлсноор нарны идэвхжил ба технологийн харилцан үйлчлэлийн түүхэн бүртгэлийг илүү нарийвчлалтай болголоо. Судлаачдын үзэж буйгаар нийгэм цахилгаан технологийн эхэн үеэс л сансрын орчны нөлөөнд өртөж ирсэн байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A railway disruption long associated with an 1841 geomagnetic storm was actually caused by a powerful magnetic disturbance in 1848, scientists have found. A new study has corrected a date error in a historic Nature report, changing the timeline of one of the earliest known cases of space weather interfering with technology.
The mystery began with an anonymous article published in Nature in 1871. The report described a “very intense magnetic disturbance” that allegedly affected railway operations in Exeter, England, in October 1841, when a telegraph operator was unable to confirm whether a railway line was clear.
The event drew attention because it appeared to show that solar activity could already disrupt human technology during the early development of electrical systems. Researchers from Lancaster University and other institutions reviewed historical archives, railway records and scientific observations to determine whether the account matched the known facts.
Their investigation found that the Exeter incident did occur, but not in 1841. The original publication contained a mistake, and the event was linked instead to a geomagnetic storm in 1848.
Railway Records Reveal An Impossible Date
The original Nature account described a 10:05 PM express train at Exeter that was delayed by 16 minutes. The delay reportedly happened because the telegraph operator could not establish whether another train was occupying the line.
At the time, railway companies relied increasingly on electrical telegraph systems to control train movements and improve safety. A disturbance affecting those systems would have represented an early example of the interaction between space weather and modern infrastructure.
The problem was that the railway described in the report did not exist in 1841. The study published in Space Weather found that the South Devon Railway Company only received parliamentary approval to build the Exeter to Plymouth route in July 1844. The section involved in the reported incident opened on May 30, 1846.
The researchers also investigated the identity of the anonymous author behind the 1871 article. A handwritten note on the original publisher’s copy pointed toward Nathaniel John Holmes, an electrical engineer involved in undersea telegraph cable development. Holmes was also interested in solar science and had links with Nature editor Sir Norman Lockyer.
Magnetic Observations Identify The 1848 Storm
To determine the real date of the disturbance, the research team examined some of the earliest magnetic measurements recorded at the Greenwich Magnetic Observatory in London. The historical magnetograms showed strong geomagnetic activity around October 18, 1848. By contrast, the records did not show an unusual disturbance in England on October 18, 1841, matching the kind of event described in the old railway report.
The team also compared these measurements with other historical evidence. Contemporary newspapers reported unusual auroral activity in October 1848, while British astronomer Temple Chevallier documented sunspot observations on October 19 of the same year.
The investigation of railway schedules provided another link. Historical timetables showed that a 10:05 PM express train was operating from Exeter between March 1848 and July 1849, a period consistent with the reported delay.
The authors of the study concluded that the 1841 date in the article was most likely a typographical error. The railway disruption described in the report appears to have taken place during the 1848 geomagnetic storm.
A Solar Storm Hidden for 150 Years
The corrected Exeter case changes the understanding of the earliest recorded effects of space weather on technology. The event was previously considered a possible example of a geomagnetic storm disrupting railway systems, but researchers now place it among the early documented encounters between solar activity and electrical infrastructure.
The earliest documented technological impact appears to be a March 1847 incident involving “spontaneous electrical currents” that disrupted telegraph systems on the Midland Railway during a bright aurora over Britain. The best-known example remains the Carrington Event of 1859, when a powerful geomagnetic storm caused widespread auroras and major disruptions to telegraph networks.
“Space weather is often discussed as a modern challenge because of our dependence on technologies such as satellites, communications systems and electricity networks,” explained co-author Jim Wild of Lancaster University. “What this study shows is that society has been experiencing the effects of space weather on technology for almost as long as electrical technologies have existed. The Exeter train delay is a fascinating story because it sits right at the point where emerging technologies first began to encounter the realities of the space environment.”
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