The natural cycle of Sun It lasts 11 years, and we are in one of its most critical moments. For that reason the news about flares (explosions of energy and radiation) and/or solar storms (product of the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field) They are becoming more constant. Its impact? Diverse. From Aurora borealis sharper and more complex until leaving entire cities without internet coverage or other types of satellite problems. In this context, recently the Land experienced the effects of the most intense geomagnetic storm since 2017which occurred on March 24, just two days after the Sun emitted a powerful class X solar flare.
That seems to be going from bad to worse, but the truth is that this is not and will not be the last solar cycle we go through. In factDuring the worst solar storm on record so far, the impact was equivalent to that of 10,000 nuclear bombs.a phenomenon that marked a before and after regarding our relationship with the sun.
The largest solar storm in history
We are talking about the Carrington event, whose name was given thanks to the astronomer Richard Carrington and which was registered in August 1859, considered by experts as the most powerful solar storm known.
During the event, aan unusual ejection of white light from the Sun. The magnitude became evident days later, when an extraordinary northern lights illuminated the skies of regions where they are not normally visible, along with leading to widespread failures in the telegraph systems of Europe and North America.
Thus, the solar storm of 1859, according to recent studies by the British Geological Survey and Nagoya Universityreleased energy equivalent to 10 billion atomic bombsfar surpassing any other solar storm on record.
In fact, a more recent investigation led by geophysicist Ciaran Beggan revealed that the Carrington event exceeded previously calculated energy limits. Although there were already assumptions about higher energy, the lack of tests and machines to calculate it kept more conservative figures as a reference.
“The impact was so powerful that countries where Nordic lights are not typically seen were able to see a colorful nighttime spectacle.. The peak intensity of the solar flare occurred between September 1 and 2 of that year, causing total failures in the telegraph of the European continent and North America,” according to the journalist from National Geographic in SpanishAndrea Fischer.