The Carrington Event: The Solar Storm That Set Telegraphs on Fire (And Could Wipe Out the Internet Today)
In the fall of 1859, something happened that sounds like a deleted scene from Stranger Things.
Telegraph operators started getting shocks from their equipment. Sparks jumped from wires. Paper caught fire. Machines that weren’t even plugged in started transmitting messages on their own. And above it all? The sky lit up with auroras so intense, people in the Caribbean thought the world was ending.
This wasn’t science fiction. It was The Carrington Event, the most powerful solar storm in recorded history. And if something like it hit today?
Let’s just say… we’d notice.
What Actually Happened in 1859?
The Carrington Event is named after Richard Carrington, a British astronomer who, on September 1, 1859, happened to be observing the Sun with a telescope. He noticed a bright flash, what we now call a solar flare, followed by a massive coronal mass ejection (CME).
Basically: the Sun sneezed out a cloud of plasma the size of a planet, and Earth happened to be in the way.
Just 17 hours later (fast by space standards), that CME slammed into our magnetic field like a freight train of electromagnetic chaos. What followed was:
Global auroras as far south as Cuba and Hawaii
Telegraph systems failing, or working with no power at all
Sparks, fires, and shocks in telegraph stations
Widespread confusion and awe
At the time, the telegraph was the most advanced tech we had. And it couldn’t handle it.
Now imagine that same storm hitting our satellites, GPS systems, internet cables, planes, cell towers, banks, hospitals…
Yeah. We’re gonna talk about that.
A Quick Solar Science Crash Course
To understand what happened, and what could happen again, here’s a fast breakdown of solar storms:
Solar Flares
These are intense bursts of radiation from the Sun’s surface. They can disrupt radio signals and satellites but don’t cause physical damage.
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)
This is the big one. CMEs are giant clouds of magnetized plasma ejected from the Sun. When aimed at Earth, they can interact with our magnetic field and cause geomagnetic storms.
Geomagnetic Storms
These are disturbances in Earth’s magnetosphere caused by CMEs. They can:
Induce electric currents in power lines
Disrupt navigation systems
Damage satellites
Cause auroras in places that don’t usually get auroras
The Carrington Event was a direct hit. And it was fast. Usually, CMEs take 2–4 days to reach us. This one made it in 17 hours. That’s like a cosmic sucker punch.
What Happened to the Telegraphs?
Telegraphs were the 1859 version of the internet. They were:
Wired across continents
Powered by batteries
Delicate by today’s standards
When the solar storm hit:
Telegraph lines overcharged from induced current
Messages sent themselves with no power
Operators were shocked just touching their machines
Equipment caught fire
This was the first time humans realized that space weather could physically affect Earth’s infrastructure.
And it freaked everyone out.
How Powerful Was It?
On the geomagnetic storm scale, the Carrington Event was a G5, Extreme (yes, they actually have a scale now, from G1 to G5).
Estimates suggest its impact on Earth’s magnetic field was:
20 times stronger than the largest storms we’ve seen in the modern satellite era
A storm of this magnitude might occur only once every 500 years
Which means… we could be overdue.
What If a Carrington-Level Storm Hit Today?
Let’s break it down, step-by-step:
1. Satellites Go First
Radiation would fry low-orbit satellites, disrupting:
GPS
Communications
Weather forecasting
Aviation
2. Power Grids Fail
Long transmission lines would act like massive antennas, pulling in unwanted current. Transformers would overheat and explode.
You could see:
Rolling blackouts
Nationwide grid collapses
Massive repair costs
3. Internet Down
The cables themselves might survive, but:
Routers and hubs could fry
Submarine cables could be overwhelmed by current
Data centers could overheat
Global comms could go dark for days… or weeks
4. Banking, Healthcare, and Travel? All Toast
ATMs wouldn’t work
Planes would be grounded
Hospitals would lose data
Stock markets would freeze
It’s basically what would happen if Mercury retrograde was real and had a caffeine-fueled meltdown.
Prep Without Panic
Not to be dramatic (okay, maybe a little), but if the Carrington Event had happened in 2025, most of us would be sitting in the dark wondering how to charge our phones.
That’s why I keep this solar-powered emergency radio + charger (I am in fact a doomsday prepper, and my coworkers think I walk around wearing a tin-foil hat most of the time!) in the house. It’s compact, charges with the sun, has a flashlight, and can power your phone in a pinch.
No tinfoil hats needed, just one less thing to stress about.
Has This Ever Happened Again?
Not at Carrington-level. But we’ve had a few close calls:
March 1989 — Quebec Blackout
A geomagnetic storm took down the entire power grid in Quebec for 9 hours. Over 6 million people lost power.
2003 — The “Halloween Storms”
Two major solar storms disrupted GPS, aviation, and satellite operations across the globe.
2012 — The Near Miss
NASA observed a CME as strong as Carrington’s, but it missed Earth by about 9 days. If it had hit… we might still be recovering.
So yes, it can happen again. And scientists know it.
How Scientists Monitor the Sun Today
We’re not flying blind anymore. Agencies like NASA, NOAA, and the ESA (European Space Agency) monitor the Sun constantly.
They use:
Solar observatories (like SOHO and STEREO)
Satellites that measure radiation, solar wind, and magnetic fields
Models that predict CME impact hours before arrival
But here’s the truth:
Even with early warning systems, we might only get 12 to 24 hours notice.
Which… isn’t much.
Are Governments Prepared?
The U.S. government has developed contingency plans under the National Space Weather Strategy, but critics argue it’s not enough.
Most infrastructure (like power grids and communication systems) isn’t hardened against extreme geomagnetic storms. And while some industries have begun taking precautions, most of us still aren’t ready for a multi-day blackout of the entire internet.
It would be chaos. The polite kind for the first 48 hours. Then the not-so-polite kind.
Why This Story Still Matters
The Carrington Event was a wake-up call from history. It reminds us:
The Sun isn’t just a pretty sky light, it’s a giant, moody nuclear furnace
Technology is amazing, but also fragile
We’ve survived before, but that doesn’t mean we’re invincible
It also reminds us that we’re part of a cosmic ecosystem, whether we think about it or not.
Every satellite, every TikTok, every GPS ping, it’s all happening in a magnetic bubble that the Sun can disrupt with one angry outburst.
And that’s both wild… and worth preparing for.
Want More Cosmic Weirdness?
If you liked this one, check out my post about the “Black Hole Bomb” theory, yes, that’s a thing.
Because apparently, when we’re not worrying about solar storms, we’re busy decoding physics theories that sound like Marvel plotlines!
So What Now?
The Carrington Event is more than a cool story. It’s a reminder:
That science fiction isn’t always fiction
That space weather is real weather
And that our beautiful, glowing star still runs the show
We can’t stop the Sun from doing its thing. But we can respect it. Learn from it. And maybe, just maybe, keep an emergency flashlight on hand just in case.
