<p>On Sept. 1, 1859, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington observed a massive eruption of bright light from the Sun’s surface. It was the first recorded observation of a solar flare. Within only 17.5 hours, a coronal mass ejection (CME) – an expulsion of plasma and magnetic waves that often accompanies flares and prominences – reached Earth,<a class="more-link" href="https://www.astronomy.com/today-in-the-history-of-astronomy/sept-2-1859-the-carrington-event-peaks/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">"Sept. 2, 1859: The Carrington Event peaks"</span></a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.astronomy.com/today-in-the-history-of-astronomy/sept-2-1859-the-carrington-event-peaks/">Sept. 2, 1859: The Carrington Event peaks</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.astronomy.com">Astronomy Magazine</a>.</p>
On Sept. 1, 1859, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington observed a massive eruption of bright light from the Sun’s surface. It was the first recorded observation of a solar flare. Within only 17.5 hours, a coronal mass ejection (CME) – an expulsion of plasma and magnetic waves that often accompanies flares and prominences – reached Earth,Continue reading “Sept. 2, 1859: The Carrington Event peaks”
The post Sept. 2, 1859: The Carrington Event peaks appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.