The worst solar storms in history – from a Halloween solar flare to the fire-starting Carrington Event

THE SUN blesses us with warmth and light, however, it can also erupt intensely, causing solar flares that can affect Earth.

A solar flare is a term used by astronomers to describe eruptions of electromagnetic radiation that happen in the Sun’s atmosphere.

There have been several powerful solar storms recorded throughout history

The phenomenon occurs when accelerated charged particles (mainly electrons) collide with the plasma medium.

And while solar flares cannot travel far enough to hurt humans here on Earth, the electromagnetic radiation and energetic particles can “temporarily alter the upper atmosphere creating disruptions with signal transmission from, say, a GPS satellite,” NASA officials said in a statement.

Another phenomenon that is often associated with a solar flare is called a coronal mass ejection (CME), which could “induce electric fluctuations at ground level that could blow out transformers in power grids,” the NASA officials added.

Evidence of solar flares, storms, and CMEs has been documented throughout history for about 500 years.

And some of these solar phenomena have had serious effects on our planet — here are some of the worst known to mankind.

1859: The Carrington Event

The Carrington Event — named after the astronomer who witnessed it, Richard Carrington — was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history.

It occurred on September 1-2, 1859 during solar cycle 10, and was likely the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun cooling with Earth’s magnetosphere.

In fact, the storm was so intense, it created strong auroral displays around the world and caused sparking and fire in several telegraph systems.

Experts predict that a storm of that magnitude in modern times would cause widespread electrical disruptions and blackouts.

1972: Solar Flare takes on AT&T

In August of 1972, there was a series of powerful solar storms that took place across North America and even parts of Vietnam.

On August 4, specifically, a huge solar flare erupted that caused long-distance phone communication to go out across numerous states in the US.

“That event, in fact, caused AT&T to redesign its power system for transatlantic cables,” NASA said of the incidence.

2000: Bastille Day Event

In July of 2000, one of the powerful solar storms since 1989 occurred on the same day that France celebrated its national Bastille Day.

The event, which featured a solar flare, solar particle event, and coronal mass ejection, short-circuited several satellites and also lead to some radio blackouts.

Additionally, this particular geomagnetic storm was so intense that it registered as an X5 on the scale of solar flares.

2003: Halloween Solar Storms

The Halloween solar storms were a series of solar flares and CMEs that occurred from mid-October to early November in 2003.

The worst of the bunch however occurred just before Halloween day, on October 28.

The powerful solar storm was so strong it shorted the spacecraft sensor that was hoping to measure it.

The sensor stopped at X28, which is already a quite intense massive flare, but revealed later that it actually stood at about X45, according to NASA.

2005: Holiday Season Solar Storm

On December 5, 2005, a powerful X-class solar flare erupted.

The event registered an intense X9 on the space weather scale and “disrupted satellite-to-ground communications and Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation signals for about 10 minutes,” according to a NASA account.

The solar storm even damaged the X-ray instrument, located on the GOES 13 satellite, that was attempting to photograph it, according to NOAA.

GettyThe Carrington Event solar storm was so intense it caused auroral displays around the world[/caption]

In other news, China has built an ‘artificial moon’ to train its astronauts for future missions.

A rugby ball-shaped planet has been spotted outside our Solar System and scientists are calling it deformed.

And, Nasa thinks the James Webb Space Telescope will likely be hit by space debris.