Researchers warn Solar storm approaching? Earth reaches dangerous maximum activity again

In 1859, the Earth experienced the strongest space weather event ever documented: a solar storm that set telegraphs on fire and made auroras visible as far away as Rome. Could something like this happen again soon? Researchers don't rule it out - because the sun is as active as it was back then.

At the beginning of September 1859, a strong thunderstorm swept across the country. There was so much hail, rain, lightning and thunder that several buildings were damaged. This is shown by records published by ETH Zurich by the German writer and linguist Knut Jungbohn Clement. The reason why these days were documented by many scientists at the time, however, was not the thunderstorm.

In 1859, auroras were visible as far away as Rome, Cuba and Hawaii. What sounds like a unique natural spectacle was in fact a dangerous event for the whole world.

High voltage due to the sun

We are talking about the Carrington Event. One that, according to science, should repeat itself to this extent every 500 years.

Electrically charged particles from the sun caused high voltages in the telegraph lines, causing leaves to burn. This allowed the recently introduced worldwide telegraph network to continue functioning even though they were not supplied with electricity. Flying sparks on the telegraph lines led to fires, which continued to break out and the telegraph operators suffered electric shocks.

What was responsible for this event?

But how did it happen? Eruptions on the surface of the sun hurl plasma particles into the universe. Most of the time they do not reach the Earth - and if they do, the so-called auroras or northern lights can be seen in the Arctic Circle. In 1859, the eruptions on the sun were so strong that the particles reached the earth directly.

The particles disturbed the Earth's magnetic field, causing fires. According to reports from the 19th century, it was even so bright at night that people were able to read newspapers.

"Alertswiss" writes: "Dark sunspots often form on the surface of the sun during this time. Massive explosions and eruptions cause material in the form of plasma to be ejected at high speed from these spots on the surface of the sun." These so-called coronal mass ejections are accompanied by intense radiation and an emission of high-energy particles. If this mixture of radiation and particles hit the Earth, the Earth's magnetic field would be disturbed. This is referred to as a geomagnetic storm or solar storm.

Will the solar storm reach the Earth again?

What happened in 1859 could happen again. The sun is currently at the peak of its approximately 11-year activity cycle - the so-called solar cycle 25. This means more sunspots, stronger eruptions and increased solar storms, which not only trigger spectacular auroras, but can also affect satellites, power grids and communication systems.

This so-called "solar maximum" marks the phase in which the sun is particularly restless. According to space researchers, this peak was predicted for the years 2024 to 2025 - and it appears to be reaching its zenith right now.

Whether the event will be repeated again this year cannot be determined exactly. Jens Berdermann from the German Aerospace Center explained why to BR24: "The problem is that at the beginning of the event on the sun, you don't yet know whether the earth will be hit. There is a point between the Earth and the Sun where we have a satellite with solar wind observation instruments." But unfortunately it is 1.5 million kilometers away, which is only the last small part (of the entire distance). "And we only have a prediction time of half an hour to three quarters of an hour before the disturbance reaches the Earth's atmosphere."