A Super Solar Flare

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 15:14 in Astronomy & Space

In September 1859, a solar flare erupted so intense that the explosion itself was visible to the human eye. A ferocious geomagnetic storm ensued in which Northern Lights descended as far south as Cuba, the Bahamas and Hawaii. Meanwhile, telegraph engineers disconnected their batteries and powered communications by electricity from the auroras! Could it happen again?

Read the whole article on Science @ NASA

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