# Sudden radiation burst 1239 years ago **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-radiation-burst-1239-years-ago/648025 "2013-01-22T18:05:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-radiation-burst-1239-years-ago/648025/1 "2013-01-22T18:05:53Z")
I just chanced upon an interesting item. Perhaps others missed it also. [From here](http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/01/why-was-earth-bombarded-with-high-energy-particles-in-the-year-774/): > [@](#): > > something strange happened in the year 774 … > … an unusually large spike in the amount of radioactive carbon found in tree rings … a surge in a specific isotope of beryllium, detected in ice cores of Antarctica. Both of these isotopes are the product of collisions that take place in our atmosphere, produced by energetic particles striking some of the gasses normally resident there. > … A solar proton event and a short gamma-ray burst are both possible explanations, but based on the rates that we know about in the Universe, the gamma-ray burst explanation is about 10,000 times less likely to be true in that time period." > > The problem, of course, is that either option is going to be exceedingly rare … ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-radiation-burst-1239-years-ago/648025/2 "2013-01-22T18:25:01Z")
Shame on you!\* - Sometime in the near future **septimus** causes a time-space-shift anomaly that leaves a permanent mark on the universe’s time table. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-radiation-burst-1239-years-ago/648025/3 "2013-01-23T16:11:32Z")
The BBC are reporting that it could be as a result of a collision between neutron stars or black holes. [Link.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21082617) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-radiation-burst-1239-years-ago/648025/4 "2013-01-24T23:50:31Z")
Hmmm, that was the year Charlemagne attacked and conquered the Lombards. Coincendence? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-radiation-burst-1239-years-ago/648025/5 "2013-01-25T02:12:43Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Hmmm, that was the year Charlemagne attacked and conquered the Lombards. Coincendence? If by “Lombards” you mean “Zombies”, then, no. (Zombards?) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-radiation-burst-1239-years-ago/648025/6 "2013-01-25T02:40:14Z")
Ok. The sun farted. Big deal. He probably blamed it on his dog Pluto.