The earliest drawings of datable auroras and a two-tail comet from the Syriac Chronicle of Z\=uqn\=in

TL;DR

This study analyzes early historical drawings of auroras and a two-tail comet from the Syriac Chronicle of Zuqnin, providing insights into ancient sky observations, extreme space weather, and comet activity around 775/776 CE.

Contribution

It presents the earliest known drawings of datable auroras and a two-tail comet, offering new evidence for historical astronomical events and their interpretation.

Findings

Earliest drawings of auroras and a two-tail comet identified

Evidence of low-latitude aurora observations in 775/776 CE

Indications of sun-grazing comets and extreme space weather events

Abstract

People have probably been watching the sky since the beginning of human history. Observers in pre-telescopic ages recorded anomalous events and these astronomical records in the historical documents provide uniquely valuable information for modern scientists. Records with drawings are particularly useful, as the verbal expressions recorded by pre-telescopic observers, who did not know the physical nature of the phenomena, are often ambiguous. However, drawings for specific datable events in the historical documents are much fewer than the verbal records. Therefore, in this paper, we show the possible earliest drawings of datable auroras and a two-tail comet in a manuscript of the Chronicle of Z\=uqn\=in, a Syriac chronicle up to 775/776 CE to interpret their nature. They provide not only the historical facts in the realm around Amida but also information about low-latitude aurora observations due to extreme space weather events and the existence of sun-grazing comets.