150 Years Ago

The Carrington Event occurred, a massive solar coronal mass ejection (CME). On the morning of September 2, 1859, early risers in Havana read their morning newspapers by the light of the auroras. Around the world, people thought the Sun was rising very early. The very limited and primitive telegraph systems were knocked off-line. and, in some instances, caught fire.

A solar storm on the order of the 1921 event would likely take down most of the national power grid. A Carrington Event could knock us part of the way back to the 18th Century.

Or maybe not. It depends on a lot of factors, including how much of a CME hits the Earth, how fast a CME is moving, and the magnetic orientation of the CME. It could be something that delights skywatchers and ham radio operators. Or it could be something that will be like the infrastructure and economic impact of a major hurricane spread over the entire country, less the flooding.

(H/T)