This video features materials protected by the Fair Use guidelines of Section 107 of the Copyright Act. I do not claim ownership over any third-party content used. It was just another September night in 1859 when Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson witnessed a remarkable event. The British astronomers weren’t together, but both happened to be peering at the Sun through telescopes at the precise moment that a massive ejection spewed from the fiery star. Within a few days, others on Earth noticed colorful aurora streaking across the skies and telegraph lines — the advanced technology of the day in Europe and North America — erupting in sparks. The solar flare came to be known as the Carrington Event, named after one of the two astronomers who first described it. Despite occurring more than 150 years ago, it still stands as the strongest known geomagnetic storm (though we lack measurements to say precisely how big it was). What is a Coronal Mass Ejection ? Get Ready for a Total Blackout ! #trending Carrington Event Are You Ready For Another