(Credit: Y. Mitsuma’s tracing of the photographs of H. Hayakawa)

Astronomers have watched sunspots come and go on the sun’s surface for at least 400 years. But to learn about the history of the sun’s activity before the time of telescopes, they have to turn to historical references to phenomena linked to solar activity, like the northern lights.

Now, a team of scientists have discovered what may be the oldest written records of auroras to date. These three Assyrian and Babylonian cuneifo