Caroline Delbert
Fri, September 18, 2020, 2:56 PM CDT
- A new paper wonders if solar flare activity contributed to the sinking of the Titanic.
- The sun emits gigantic solar storms that can even knock power out on Earth.
- The right (wrong) kind of solar flare could have interfered with navigation andradios, affecting the Titanic‘s trajectory as well as rescue response.
Just when we think we know everything there is to know about the Titanic—unsinkable ship, giant iceberg, “I’m the king of the world,” etc.—along comes fascinating new research that raises big questions about what really transpired on the fateful night of April 14, 1912. Did a weather fluke from space actually cause the Titanic to sink?
The new study’s key finding is that the northern hemisphere was in the grips of a “moderate to severe” magnetic storm that night, which could have altered the Titanic’s navigational readings, affecting both its planned course and the information the crew shared about their location during SOS signals.
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