1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Welcome to This Day in History Class, where 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: History waits for no One. Today is August. The day 4 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: was August eighteen fifty nine. Astronomers began noticing sun spot 5 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 1: clusters and auroras began appearing in the sky electric currents 6 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: charged through telegraph systems around the world. Sun spots are darker, 7 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: cooler spots that appear on the Sun's surface that are 8 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: caused by interactions with the Sun's magnetic field. Solar flares 9 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: and coronal mass ejections usually originate from the magnetically active 10 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: areas around sun spots. A coronal mass ejection happens when 11 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: a cloud of energetic and highly magnetized plaza is ejected 12 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: from the Sun, which can cause radio and magnetic disturbances 13 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: on Earth. Coronal mass ejections that struck Earth's magnetosphere led 14 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: to one of the largest geomagnetic storms on record. On 15 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: September one, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington went into his private 16 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: observatory on his estate outside of London. He turned his 17 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: telescope towards the Sun and noticed a group of sun spots, 18 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: and he drew a picture of the Sun spots. At 19 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: eighteen in the morning, he saw a white light flash 20 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: at two places in the sun spot group. He later 21 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: wrote this in a paper published in the Monthly Notices 22 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: of the Royal Astronomical Society. My first impression was that 23 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: by some chance array of light had penetrated a hole 24 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,559 Speaker 1: in the screen attached to the object glass by which 25 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: the general image is thrown into shade. For the brilliancy 26 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: was fully equal to that of the wrecked sunlight. That 27 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: same day, amateur astronomer Richard Hodgson also observed a large 28 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: sun spot group and white light flare. The sun activity 29 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: faded away after a few minutes, but about seventeen hours 30 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: after Carrington observed the flash, Aurora's lit up the sky 31 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: around the world as far south as Panama. People woke 32 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: up late at night thinking the sun had risen. The 33 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: sky looked blood red. In some places, telegraph systems failed, 34 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: and there were reports that sparks from telegraph machines shocked 35 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:40,359 Speaker 1: operators and set papers on fire. Telegraph poles and receiving 36 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: stations also reportedly caught on fire. Some operators found that 37 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: they could transmit messages without battery power, only using a 38 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: rural current. The a rural displaze that appeared on September 39 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: two and third, happened only several months from the peak 40 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: of the sun spot cycle. The number of sun spots 41 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: and other signs of solar magnetic activity fluctuate over an 42 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: eleven year cycle. At the time, scientists did not understand 43 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: how Aurora's work. Some guests that the auroras were caused 44 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: by falling debris from active volcanoes or by reflections from icebergs, 45 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: but many thought that the displays were a sign of 46 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: a disaster that was about to happen, or a message 47 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 1: from God. Even though Carrington advised against linking the flare 48 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: he had seen to the events that followed. But since 49 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: then it has been determined that auroral displays are the 50 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: result of solar winds that caused disturbances in the magnetic sphere. 51 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: The geomagnetic storm that occurred in eighteen fifty nine, also 52 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: known as the Carrington event today, was one of the 53 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: biggest solar storms ever recorded. The Sun had sent off 54 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: two coronal mass ejections that reached Earth. Based on ice 55 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: core samples, it was the biggest solar storm in the 56 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: last five hundred years. It has been estimated that The 57 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: solar storm costs the global telegraph system around three d 58 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, plus other costs related to businesses, stock markets, 59 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 1: and individual families. Usually, these solar storms do not hit Earth, 60 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: but if a geomagnetic storm like the eighteen fifty nine 61 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: one happened today, damages would be more extensive and cost 62 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: would be a lot higher. Similar, but less severe geomagnetic 63 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: storms have hit Earth since the eighteen fifty nine event. 64 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,479 Speaker 1: I'm Eaves step Coode and hopefully you know a little 65 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. Get more 66 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: Notes from History on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t 67 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: d i h C podcast. We'll be back with more 68 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: history tomorrow. For more podcasts from my heart Radio is 69 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 70 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:03,239 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.