You have full access to this open access article. We trace the evolution of research on extreme solar and solar-terrestrial events from the Carrington event to the rapid development of the last twenty years. The reviewed studies are based on modern observations, historical or long-term data including the auroral and cosmogenic radionuclide record, and Kepler observations of Sun-like stars. We compile a table of and year events based on occurrence frequency distributions for the space weather phenomena listed above.
Questions considered include the Sun-like nature of superflare stars and the existence of impactful but unpredictable solar "black swans" and extreme "dragon king" solar phenomena that can involve different physics from that operating in events which are merely large.
Research on extreme solar and solar-terrestrial activity dates to the notable event of Carrington ; Hodgson ; Stewart , but it is only within the last twenty years that extreme events, as a separate class, have been examined in detail. Severe space weather events that could cause such a major impact may be rare, but they are nonetheless a risk and cannot be completely discounted.
The investigation of extreme space weather has broadened as new windowsβhistorical cosmogenic nuclide events Miyake et al. In this review, we trace the evolution of research on extreme solar activity and review work on the limits of the various types of extreme space weather and their occurrence probabilities. Richard Carrington, the accomplished nineteenth century English astronomer Cliver and Keer , described his discovery of the first solar flareβon 1 September βin a brief Monthly Notices paper that is a mixture of scientific rigor e.
From his detailed account of the "singular appearance seen in the Sun", it seems clear that Carrington knew that the transient bright emission patches he observed in the large spot group near central meridian Fig. It was recognized at the time that the magnetic storm was strong, but just how strong was hard to say. The initial A and B and final C and D positions of the white-light emission are indicated.
