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GP: Fachverband Geschichte der Physik

GP 7: Session 6

GP 7.3: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2013, 15:00–15:30, HS 7

Misinterpretations of sightings of a parhelic circle with solar pillars and their role in supernova interpretations and society — •Ralph Neuhäuser and Dagmar Luise Neuhäuser — AIU, Univ. Jena, Schillergaeeschen 2, Jena

Sightings of a parhelic (or parselenic) circle with solar pillars have often been misinterpreted, e.g. as presumable very early sightings in April and May of the year AD 1054 of the supernova that created the Crab pulsar. More recently, it was suggested that the sighting of a "red cross after sunset" in AD 774 was actually an absorbed supernova (Allen 2012, Nature) as counterpart to the AD 774/5 cosmic-ray event seen in tree rings (Miyake 2012, Nature), also clearly wrong. A short Gamma-Ray Burst is consistent with all observables of the AD 774/5 event (Hambaryan & Neuhäuser, in press). Two other suggestions were made more recently on a strong solar flare. All such sightings of "crosses" were in fact parhelic circles with solar pillars looking like a cross. In the medieval centuries, monks were looking for a cross in the sky, presumably indicating the return of the messiah. Emporer Constantin (and possibly also Saulus/Paulus) also saw such effects in AD 310/312 (around AD 35 for Saulus/Paulus): Constantin then won a battle to become the only emporer of the west roman empire and misinterpreted the sighting as a message of the christian god to him, and then legalized and supported christianity. Saulus/Paulus converted to christianity immediately after the sighting. Hence, sightings of parhelic circles with solar pillars misinterpreted as crosses have played a crucial role in the rise and success of christianity.