Carrington Event Explained

Carrington Event
Cme-Travel-Time:	17.6 hr
G-Impacts:	Severe damage to telegraph stations
Solar-Cycle:	10

The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking on 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in telegraph stations.^[1] The geomagnetic storm was most likely the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun colliding with Earth's magnetosphere.^[2]

The geomagnetic storm was associated with a very bright solar flare on 1 September 1859. It was observed and recorded independently by British astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson—the first records of a solar flare. A geomagnetic storm of this magnitude occurring today has the potential to cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts and damage due to extended cuts of the electrical power grid.^{[3] [4] [5]}

History

Geomagnetic storm

On 1 and 2 September 1859, one of the largest geomagnetic storms (as recorded by ground-based magnetometers) occurred.^[6] Estimates of the storm strength (Dst) range from −0.80 to −1.75 μT.^[7]

The geomagnetic storm is thought to have been caused by a big coronal mass ejection (CME) that traveled directly toward Earth, taking 17.6 hours to make the journey. Typical CMEs take several days to arrive at Earth, but it is believed that the relatively high speed of this CME was made possible by a prior CME, perhaps the cause of the large aurora event on 29 August that "cleared the way" of ambient solar wind plasma for the Carrington Event.

Associated solar flare

Just before noon on 1 September 1859, the English amateur astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson independently recorded the earliest observations of a solar flare.^[8] Carrington and Hodgson compiled independent reports which were published side by side in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and exhibited their drawings of the event at the November 1859 meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society.^{[9] [10]}

Because of a geomagnetic solar flare effect (a "magnetic crochet")^[11] observed in the Kew Observatory magnetometer record by Scottish physicist Balfour Stewart, and a geomagnetic storm observed the following day, Carrington suspected a solar–terrestrial connection.^[12] Worldwide reports of the effects of the geomagnetic storm of 1859 were compiled and published by American mathematician Elias Loomis, which support the observations of Carrington and Stewart.^[13]

Impact

Auroras

Auroras were seen around the world in the northern and southern hemispheres. The aurora borealis over the Rocky Mountains in the United States was so bright that the glow woke gold miners, who were reported to have begun to prepare breakfast because they thought it was morning. It was also reported that people in the north-eastern United States could read a newspaper by the aurora's light.^{[8] [14]} The aurora was also visible from the poles to low latitude areas such as south-central Mexico,^{[15] [16]} Cuba, Hawaii, Queensland,^[17] southern Japan and China,^[18] and even at lower latitudes very close to the equator, such as in Colombia.^[19]

On Saturday 3 September 1859, the Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser reported that

In 1909, an Australian gold miner named C. F. Herbert retold his observations in a letter to the Daily News in Perth,

Telegraphs

Because of the geomagnetically induced current from the electromagnetic field, telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed, in some cases giving their operators electric shocks.^[20] Telegraph pylons threw sparks.^[21] Some operators were able to continue to send and receive messages despite having disconnected their power supplies.^{[22] [23]} The following conversation occurred between two operators of the American telegraph line between Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine, on the night of 2 September 1859 and reported in the Boston Evening Traveler:

The conversation was carried on for around two hours using no battery power at all and working solely with the current induced by the aurora, the first time on record that more than a word or two was transmitted in such manner.^[24]

Similar events

See also: List of solar storms.

Another strong solar storm occurred in February 1872.^[25] Less severe storms also occurred in 1921 (this was comparable by some measures), 1938, 1941, 1958, 1959 and 1960, when widespread radio disruption was reported. The flares and CMEs of the August 1972 solar storms were similar to the Carrington event in size and magnitude; however, unlike the 1859 storms, they did not cause an extreme geomagnetic storm. The March 1989 geomagnetic storm knocked out power across large sections of Quebec, while the 2003 Halloween solar storms registered the most powerful solar explosions ever recorded. On 23 July 2012, a "Carrington-class" solar superstorm (solar flare, CME, solar electromagnetic pulse) was observed, but its trajectory narrowly missed Earth.^{[5] [26]} During the May 2024 solar storms, the Aurora Borealis was sighted as far south as Puerto Rico.^[27]

In June 2013, a joint venture from researchers at Lloyd's of London and Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) in the US used data from the Carrington Event to estimate the cost of a similar event in the present to the US alone at US$600 billion to $2.6 trillion (equivalent to $ to $ in),^[3] which, at the time, equated to roughly 3.6 to 15.5 percent of annual GDP.

Other research has looked for signatures of large solar flares and CMEs in carbon-14 in tree rings and beryllium-10 (among other isotopes) in ice cores. The signature of a large solar storm has been found for the years 774–775 and 993–994.^[28] Carbon-14 levels stored in 775 suggest an event about 20 times the normal variation of the Sun's activity, and 10 or more times the size of the Carrington Event.^[29] An event in 7176 BCE may have exceeded even the 774–775 event based on this proxy data.^[30]

Whether the physics of solar flares is similar to that of even larger superflares is still unclear. The Sun may differ in important ways such as size and speed of rotation from the types of stars that are known to produce superflares.^[31]

Other evidence

Ice cores containing thin nitrate-rich layers have been analysed to reconstruct a history of past solar storms predating reliable observations. This was based on the hypothesis that solar energetic particles would ionize nitrogen, leading to the production of nitric oxide and other oxidised nitrogen compounds, which would not be too diluted in the atmosphere before being deposited along with snow.

Beginning in 1986, some researchers claimed that data from Greenland ice cores showed evidence of individual solar particle events, including the Carrington Event.^[32] More recent ice core work, however, casts significant doubt on this interpretation and shows that nitrate spikes are likely not a result of solar energetic particle events but can be due to terrestrial events such as forest fires, and correlate with other chemical signatures of known forest fire plumes. Nitrate events in cores from Greenland and Antarctica do not align, so the hypothesis that they reflect proton events is now in significant doubt.^{[33] [34] [35]}

A 2024 study analysed digitized magnetogram readings from magnetic observatories at Kew and Greenwich. "Initial analysis suggests the rates of change of the field of over 700 nT/min exceeded the 1-in-100 years extreme value of 350–400 nT/min at this latitude based on digital-era records",^[36] indicating a far greater change rate than modern digital measurements.^[37]

See also

• A-index
• K-index
• Nuclear electromagnetic pulse
• 774–775 carbon-14 spike
• Miyake event

Further reading

• News: Bell, Trudy E. . Phillips, Tony . 6 May 2008. A Super Solar Flare . Science@NASA (science.nasa.gov) . https://web.archive.org/web/20080509160911/http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/06may_carringtonflare.htm . 9 May 2008.
• Boteler . D. . 2006 . The super storms of August/September 1859 and their effects on the telegraph system . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 159–172 . 2006AdSpR..38..159B . 10.1016/j.asr.2006.01.013.
• Boteler . D. . 2006 . Comment on time conventions in the recordings of 1859 . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 301–303 . 2006AdSpR..38..301B . 10.1016/j.asr.2006.07.006.
• News: British Geological Survey . 2011 . The largest magnetic storm on record ... or is it? The 'Carrington Event' of August 27 to September 7, 1859: Recorded at Greenwich Observatory, London . 28 March 2009.
• News: Brooks . Michael . 18 March 2009. Space storm alert: 90 seconds from catastrophe . . 28 March 2009 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20090322055348/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127001.300-space-storm-alert-90-seconds-from-catastrophe.html?full=true . 22 March 2009.
• Burke . W. . Huang . C. . Rich . F. . Energetics of the April 2000 magnetic superstorm observed by DMSP . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 239–252 . 2006 . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.07.085 . 2006AdSpR..38..239B .
• Calvin . Robert Clauer . George Siscoe . Siscoe . George L. . 2006 . The great historical geomagnetic storm of 1859: A modern look . Advances in Space Research . 2 . 38 . 115–388 . 10.1016/j.asr.2006.09.002.
• Carrington . R.C. . Richard Christopher Carrington . 1859 . Description of a singular appearance seen in the Sun on September 1, 1859 . . 20 . 13–15 . 1859MNRAS..20...13C . 10.1093/mnras/20.1.13 . free .
• Book: Clark, Stuart . 2007 . The Sun Kings: The unexpected tragedy of Richard Carrington and the tale of how modern astronomy began . Princeton University Press . 978-0-691-12660-9 .
• Cliver . E.W. . Svalgaard . L. . 2004 . The 1859 Solar–Terrestrial Disturbance and the Current Limits of Extreme Space Weather Activity . Solar Physics . 224 . 1–2 . 407 . 10.1007/s11207-005-4980-z . 2004SoPh..224..407C . 120093108 . 29 August 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110811182410/http://www.leif.org/research/1859%20Storm%20-%20Extreme%20Space%20Weather.pdf . 11 August 2011.
• Cliver . E. . 2006 . The 1859 space weather event: Then and now . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 119–129 . 2006AdSpR..38..119C . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.07.077 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170620185943/http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA471584. live. 20 June 2017.
• Green . J. . Boardsen . S. . 2006 . Duration and extent of the great auroral storm of 1859 . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 130–135 . 2006AdSpR..38..130G . 5215858 . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.08.054 . 28066122.
• Green . J. . Boardsen . S. . Odenwald . S. . Humble . J. . Pazamickas . K. . 2006 . Eyewitness reports of the great auroral storm of 1859 . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 145–154 . 2006AdSpR..38..145G . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.12.021 . 2060/20050210157 . free.
• Hayakawa . H. . 2016 . East Asian observations of low-latitude aurora during the Carrington magnetic storm . Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan . 68 . 6 . 99 . 2016PASJ...68...99H . 1608.07702 . 10.1093/pasj/psw097 . 119268875.
• Humble . J. . 2006 . The solar events of August/September 1859 – Surviving Australian observations . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 155–158 . 2006AdSpR..38..155H . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.08.053.
• Kappenman . J. . Great geomagnetic storms and extreme impulsive geomagnetic field disturbance events – An analysis of observational evidence including the great storm of May 1921 . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 188–199 . 2006 . 2006AdSpR..38..188K . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.08.055.
• News: Kemp . Bill . 31 July 2016. PFOP: Solar Superstorm Awed Locals in 1859 . A Page from Our Past . . Bloomington, IL . 2 May 2020.
• Li . X. . Temerin . M. . Tsurutani . B. . Alex . S. . 2006 . Modeling of 1–2 September 1859 super magnetic storm . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 273–279 . 2006AdSpR..38..273L . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.06.070.
• Manchester . W.B. IV . Ridley . A.J. . Gombosi . T.I. . de Zeeuw . D.L. . 2006 . Modeling the Sun-to-Earth propagation of a very fast CME . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 253–262 . 2006AdSpR..38..253M . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.09.044.
• Nevanlinna . H. . 2006 . A study on the great geomagnetic storm of 1859: Comparisons with other storms in the 19th century . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 180–187 . 2006AdSpR..38..180N . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.07.076.
• Odenwald . S. . Green . J. . Taylor . W. . 2006 . Forecasting the impact of an 1859-calibre superstorm on satellite resources . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 280–297 . 2006AdSpR..38..280O . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.10.046 . 2060/20050210154 . free.
• Ridley . A.J. . de Zeeuw . D.L. . Manchester . W.B. . Hansen . K.C. . 2006 . The magnetospheric and ionospheric response to a very strong interplanetary shock and coronal mass ejection . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 263–272 . 2006AdSpR..38..263R . 10.1016/j.asr.2006.06.010.
• Robertclauer . C. . Siscoe . G. . 2006 . The great historical geomagnetic storm of 1859: A modern look . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 117–118 . 10.1016/j.asr.2006.09.001 . 2006AdSpR..38..117R.
• Shea . M.. Margaret Shea (scientist) . Smart . D. . 2006 . Geomagnetic cutoff rigidities and geomagnetic coordinates appropriate for the Carrington flare Epoch . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 209–214 . 2006AdSpR..38..209S . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.03.156 .
• Shea . M.. Margaret Shea (scientist) . Smart . D. . McCracken . K. . Dreschhoff . G. . Spence . H. . 2006 . Solar proton events for 450 years: The Carrington event in perspective . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 232–238 . 2006AdSpR..38..232S . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.02.100 .
• Shea . M.. Margaret Shea (scientist) . Smart . D. . 2006 . Compendium of the eight articles on the "Carrington Event" attributed to or written by Elias Loomis in the American Journal of Science, 1859–1861 . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 313–385 . 2006AdSpR..38..313S . 10.1016/j.asr.2006.07.005 .
• Silverman . S. . 2006 . Comparison of the aurora of September 1–2, 1859 with other great auroras . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 136–144 . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.03.157 . 2006AdSpR..38..136S.
• Silverman . S. . 2006 . Low latitude auroras prior to 1200 C.E. and Ezekiel's vision . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 200–208 . 2006AdSpR..38..200S . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.03.158.
• Siscoe . G. . Crooker . N. . Clauer . C. . 2006 . Dst of the Carrington storm of 1859 . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 173–179 . 2006AdSpR..38..173S . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.02.102.
• Smart . D. . Shea . M.. Margaret Shea (scientist) . McCracken . K. . 2006 . The Carrington event: Possible solar proton intensity–time profile . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 215–225 . 2006AdSpR..38..215S . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.04.116 .
• Web site: Solar Storm 1859 . Solar Storms . 17 April 2017 . – Excerpts of articles from newspapers concerning the Carrington Event
• Townsend . L.W. . Stephens . D.L. . Hoff . J.L. . Zapp . E.N. . Moussa . H.M. . Miller . T.M. . Campbell . C.E. . Nichols . T.F. . 2006 . The Carrington event: Possible doses to crews in space from a comparable event . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 226–231 . 2006AdSpR..38..226T . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.01.111.
• Tsurutani . B.T. . Gonzalez . W.D. . Lakhina . G.S. . Alex . S. . 2003 . The extreme magnetic storm of 1–2 September 1859 . Journal of Geophysical Research . 108 . A7 . 1268 . 10.1029/2002JA009504 . free . 2003JGRA..108.1268T .
• Wilson . L. . 2006 . Excerpts from and Comments on the Wochenschrift für Astronomie, Meteorologie und Geographie, Neue Folge, zweiter Jahrgang (new series 2) . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 304–312 . 2006AdSpR..38..304W . 10.1016/j.asr.2006.07.004.

Notes and References

1. Kimball . D. S. . A Study of the Aurora of 1859 . April 1960 . Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska . 28 November 2021.
2. Tsurutani . B. T. . The extreme magnetic storm of 1–2 September 1859 . Journal of Geophysical Research . 2003 . 108 . A7 . 1268 . 10.1029/2002JA009504 . 2003JGRA..108.1268T . 28 November 2021.
3. Book: Solar Storm Risk to the North American Electric Grid . Lloyd's of London and Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. . 2013 . 17 February 2022.
4. Book: Baker . D.N. . etal . 2008 . Severe Space Weather Events – Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts . The National Academy Press . Washington, D.C. . 10.17226/12507 . 978-0-309-12769-1.
5. News: Phillips . Dr. Tony . 23 July 2014. Near miss: The solar superstorm of July 2012 . . 26 July 2014.
6. E. W. . Cliver . L. . Svalgaard . 2005 . The 1859 solar-terrestrial disturbance and the current limits on extreme space weather activity . Solar Physics . 224 . 1–2 . 407–422 . 10.1007/s11207-005-4980-z . 2004SoPh..224..407C . 120093108 .
7. Web site: Near miss: The Solar superstorm of July 2012 . NASA Science . 14 September 2016.
8. Sten F. . Odenwald . Sten Odenwald . James L. . Green . James L. Green . 28 July 2008. Bracing the satellite infrastructure for a Solar superstorm . . 299 . 2 . 80–87 . 10.1038/scientificamerican0808-80 . 11 May 2024 . 18666683 . 16 February 2011.
9. Carrington . R. C. . Richard Christopher Carrington . 1859 . Description of a singular appearance seen in the Sun on September 1, 1859 . . 20 . 13–15 . 10.1093/mnras/20.1.13 . free . 1859MNRAS..20...13C .
10. Hodgson . R. . Richard Hodgson (publisher) . 1859 . On a curious appearance seen in the Sun . . 20 . 15–16 . 10.1093/mnras/20.1.15 . free . 1859MNRAS..20...15H .
11. Web site: Richard . Thompson . 24 September 2015 . A solar flare effect . Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology . Space Weather Services . 2 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924040018/http://www.ips.gov.au/Educational/3/1/1 . 24 September 2015.
12. Book: Clark , Stuart . 2007 . The Sun Kings: The unexpected tragedy of Richard Carrington and the tale of how modern astronomy began . Princeton, New Jersey . Princeton University Press . 978-0-691-12660-9 .
13. The 9 articles by E. Loomis published from November 1859 to July 1862 in the American Journal of Science regarding "The great auroral exhibition", 28 – 4 August September 1859:
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . November 1859 . The Great Auroral Exhibition of August 28th to September 4th, 1859 . . 2nd series . 28 . 385–408 .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . January 1860 . The Great Auroral Exhibition of August 28th to September 4th, 1859 – 2d Article . . 2nd series . 29 . 92–97 .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . February 1860 . The Great Auroral Exhibition of August 28th to September 4th, 1859 – 3d Article . . 2nd series . 29 . 249–266 .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . May 1860 . The Great Auroral Exhibition of Aug. 28th to Sept. 4th, 1859 – 4th Article . . 2nd series . 29 . 386–399 .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . July 1860 . The Great Auroral Exhibition of Aug. 28th to Sept. 4th, 1859; and the Geographical Distribution of Auroras and Thunder storms – 5th Article . . 2nd series . 30 . 79–100 .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . November 1860 . The Great Auroral Exhibition of Aug. 28th to Sept. 4th, 1859 – 6th Article . . 2nd series . 30 . 339–361 .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . July 1861 . The Great Auroral Exhibition of Aug. 28th to Sept. 4th, 1859 – 7th Article . . 2nd series . 32 . 94 . 71–84 . 10.2475/ajs.s2-32.94.71 . 1861AmJS...32...71L .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . September 1861 . On the great Auroral Exhibition of Aug. 28th to Sept. 4th, 1859, and Auroras generally. – 8th Article . . 2nd series . 32 . 96 . 318–335 . 10.2475/ajs.s2-32.96.318 . 1861AmJS...32..318L .
    • Loomis . Elias . Elias Loomis . July 1862 . On Electrical currents circulating near the earth's surface and their connection with the phenomena of the Aurora Polaris. – 9th Article . The American Journal of Science . 2nd series . 34 . 34–45 .
14. News: R. A. . Lovett . Richard A. Lovett . 2 March 2011. What if the biggest solar storm on record happened today? . . https://web.archive.org/web/20110305110813/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science . dead . 5 March 2011 . 5 September 2011.
15. Hayakawa . H. . 2018 . Low-latitude aurorae during the extreme space weather events in 1859 . The Astrophysical Journal . 869 . 1 . 57 . 10.3847/1538-4357/aae47c . 1811.02786 . 2018ApJ...869...57H . 119386459. free .
16. J. A. . González-Esparza . M. C. . Cuevas-Cardona . 2018 . Observations of Low Latitude Red Aurora in Mexico During the 1859 Carrington Geomagnetic Storm . Space Weather . 16 . 6 . 593 . 10.1029/2017SW001789 . free . 2018SpWea..16..593G.
17. J. . Green . 2006 . Duration and extent of the great auroral storm of 1859 . Advances in Space Research . 38 . 2 . 130–135 . 2006AdSpR..38..130G . 5215858 . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.08.054 . 28066122.
18. H. . Hayakawa . 2016 . East Asian observations of low-latitude aurora during the Carrington magnetic storm . Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan . 68 . 6 . 99 . 2016PASJ...68...99H . 10.1093/pasj/psw097 . 1608.07702 . 119268875.
19. Freddy . Moreno Cárdenas . Sergio . Cristancho Sánchez . Santiago . Vargas Domínguez . Satoshi . Hayakawa . Sandeep . Kumar . Shyamoli . Mukherjee . B. . Veenadhari . 2016 . The grand aurorae borealis seen in Colombia in 1859 . Advances in Space Research . 57 . 1 . 257–267 . 1508.06365 . 2016AdSpR..57..257M . 10.1016/j.asr.2015.08.026 . 119183512.
20. Committee on the Societal and Economic Impacts of Severe Space Weather Events: A Workshop, National Research Council . 2008 . Severe Space Weather Events – Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report . 13 . National Academies Press . 978-0-309-12769-1.
21. Book: Odenwald , Sten F. . 2002 . The 23rd Cycle . 28 . Columbia University Press . 978-0-231-12079-1 . registration . archive.org.
22. Book: Michael J. . Carlowicz . Ramon E. . Lopez . 2002 . Storms from the Sun: The emerging science of space weather . 58 . National Academies Press . 978-0-309-07642-5.
23. Loomis . Elias . Kingston . G. P. . Lyman . C. S. . Twining . Alexander C. . Kirkwood . Daniel . Cornette . A. . Poey . Andreas . Trask . John B. . etal . The great Auroral Exhibition of August 28th to September 4th, 1859 . American Journal of Science . 1859 . 28 . 84 . 2nd series . 385 . [...] in more than one case the north and south [telegraph] lines were worked during the daytime of September 3d solely by the atmospheric influence!.
24. Green . James L. . Boardsen . Scott . Odenwald . Sten . Humble . John . Pazamickas . Katherine A. . 1 January 2006 . Eyewitness reports of the great auroral storm of 1859 . Advances in Space Research . The Great Historical Geomagnetic Storm of 1859: A Modern Look . en . 38 . 2 . 145–154 . 10.1016/j.asr.2005.12.021 . 2006AdSpR..38..145G . 2060/20050210157 . 0273-1177. free .
25. Hayakawa . Hisashi . etal . The extreme space weather event of 1872 February: sunspots, magnetic disturbance, and auroral displays . The Astrophysical Journal . 2023 . 959 . 23 . 23 . 10.3847/1538-4357/acc6cc . 2023ApJ...959...23H . free .
26. video . 04:03 . Carrington-class coronal mass ejection narrowly misses Earth . 28 April 2014. . 26 July 2014 . YouTube.
27. Web site: Garofalo . Meredith . 2024-05-13 . How a giant sunspot unleashed solar storms that spawned global auroras that just dazzled us all . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240515042717/https://www.space.com/giant-sunspot-ar3664-solar-storms-aurora . 15 May 2024 . 2024-05-15 . Space.com . en.
28. Hudson . Hugh S. . Carrington Events . Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics . 2021 . 59 . 445–477 . 10.1146/annurev-astro-112420-023324. 2021ARA&A..59..445H . 241040835 . 0066-4146 . free .
29. Crockett . Christopher . Are we ready? Understanding just how big solar flares can get . Knowable Magazine . 17 September 2021 . 10.1146/knowable-091721-1 . 239204944 . 30 September 2021. free .
30. Paleari . Chiara I. . F. Mekhaldi . F. Adolphi . M. Christl . C. Vockenhuber . P. Gautschi . J. Beer . N. Brehm . T. Erhardt . H.-A. Synal . L. Wacker . F. Wilhelms . R. Muscheler . Cosmogenic radionuclides reveal an extreme solar particle storm near a solar minimum 9125 years BP . Nat. Commun. . 13 . 214 . 2022 . 214 . 10.1038/s41467-021-27891-4 . 35017519 . 8752676 . 2022NatCo..13..214P .
31. Battersby . Stephen . 19 November 2019 . Core concept: What are the chances of a hazardous solar superflare? . . en . 116 . 47 . 23368–23370 . 10.1073/pnas.1917356116 . 0027-8424 . 31744927 . 6876210 . 2019PNAS..11623368B. free .
32. McCracken . K. G. . Dreschhoff . G. A. M. . Zeller . E. J. . Smart . D. F. . Shea . M. A. . Margaret Shea (scientist) . 2001 . Solar cosmic ray events for the period 1561–1994 – 1. Identification in polar-ice, 1561–1950 . . 106 . A10 . 21, 585, 598 . 10.1029/2000JA000237 . 2001JGR...10621585M. free .
33. Wolff . E. W. . Bigler . M. . Curran . M. A. J. . Dibb . J. . Frey . M. M. . Legrand . M. . 2012 . The Carrington event not observed in most ice core nitrate records . . 39 . 8 . 21, 585, 598 . 10.1029/2012GL051603 . free . 2012GeoRL..39.8503W .
34. Duderstadt . K. A. . etal . 2014 . Nitrate deposition to surface snow at Summit, Greenland, following the 9 November 2000 solar proton event . Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres . 119 . 11 . 6938–6957 . 2014JGRD..119.6938D . 10.1002/2013JD021389 . free.
35. F. . Mekhaldi . J. R. . McConnell . F. . Adolphi . M. M. . Arienzo . N. J. . Chellman . O. J. . Maselli . A. D. . Moy . C. T. . Plummer . M. . Sigl . R. . Muscheler . 6 . November 2017 . No coincident nitrate enhancement events in polar ice cores following the largest known Solar storms . Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres . 122 . 21 . 11, 900–911, 913 . 10.1002/2017JD027325 . free . 2017JGRD..12211900M.
36. Beggan . C. D. . Clarke . E. . Lawrence . E. . Eaton . E. . Williamson . J. . Matsumoto . K. . Hayakawa . H. . Digitized Continuous Magnetic Recordings for the August/September 1859 Storms From London, UK . Space Weather . 22 . 3 . 29 February 2024 . 1542-7390 . 10.1029/2023SW003807. free . 2024SpWea..2203807B .
37. Web site: Luntz . Stephen . History's Biggest Solar Storm, The Carrington Event, Was Even Bigger Than We Realized . IFLScience . 2024-03-25 . 2024-03-26.