Worrying new simulations show that a solar storm on par with the infamous Carrington Event could potentially wipe out every single satellite orbiting our planet, leaving us in a precarious and expensive predicament. And experts say such a powerful solar storm is inevitable and will hit our planet sooner or later.
On Sept. 1, 1859, British astronomer Richard Carrington observed a brilliant flash of light coming from a gigantic sunspot that was about the same size as Jupiter. He had witnessed the most powerful solar flare in recorded history, and it was followed by a major disturbance to Earth’s magnetic field, known as a geomagnetic storm, which raged for almost a week and painted the skies with widespread auroras.
Now, a new set of simulations conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed that if a similar event occurred today, the effects would be much more catastrophic due to our reliance on technologies — both on Earth and in space.
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