Search for: All records

Abstract Cosmic rays and solar energetic particles pose significant risks to satellites, space stations, and human space exploration. They also produce atmospheric radiocarbon (¹⁴C), which enters the carbon cycle and is recorded by paleoenvironmental proxies. Miyake events, rapid increases in atmospheric¹⁴C, first identified in annual tree rings and later confirmed through ice core¹⁰Be and³⁶Cl isotopes, are thought to result from extreme solar activity, are seven events identified over the last 14,300 years. However, uncertainty in annual¹⁴C measurements limits precise inferences about their timing and magnitude. This study examines uncertainties in¹⁴C during two Miyake events (774 CE and 993 CE) across trees with differing uptake, storage, and allocation of carbon. We hypothesize that tree species physiology affects tree‐ring Δ¹⁴C, with deciduous species recording lagged, attenuated tree‐ring Δ¹⁴C relative to evergreen species. Using Δ¹⁴C data from pine and larch in Mongolia and a larger multi‐species Northern Hemisphere data set, we employed a Bayesian framework to estimate the timing, duration, and magnitude of these two events. Our AMS results showed no differences in Δ¹⁴C between evergreen and deciduous species growing at similar sites during the 774 CE event. The 993 CE event was variable, but parameter estimates were consistent between species. Northern Hemisphere comparisons indicated that annual series of Δ¹⁴C from evergreen and deciduous conifers yielded relatively more precise modeled estimates of start date and duration relative to deciduous broadleaf species. Future studies should consider the role of species‐specific carbon allocation strategies and storage dynamics in determining the radiocarbon response to Miyake events. 

Abstract The Australian, Chinese, European, Indian, and North American pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations recently reported, at varying levels, evidence for the presence of a nanohertz gravitational-wave background (GWB). Given that each PTA made different choices in modeling their data, we perform a comparison of the GWB and individual pulsar noise parameters across the results reported from the PTAs that constitute the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). We show that despite making different modeling choices, there is no significant difference in the GWB parameters that are measured by the different PTAs, agreeing within 1σ. The pulsar noise parameters are also consistent between different PTAs for the majority of the pulsars included in these analyses. We bridge the differences in modeling choices by adopting a standardized noise model for all pulsars and PTAs, finding that under this model there is a reduction in the tension in the pulsar noise parameters. As part of this reanalysis, we “extended” each PTA’s data set by adding extra pulsars that were not timed by that PTA. Under these extensions, we find better constraints on the GWB amplitude and a higher signal-to-noise ratio for the Hellings–Downs correlations. These extensions serve as a prelude to the benefits offered by a full combination of data across all pulsars in the IPTA, i.e., the IPTA’s Data Release 3, which will involve not just adding in additional pulsars but also including data from all three PTAs where any given pulsar is timed by more than a single PTA.