Did you know the most powerful geomagnetic storm of the past 500 years occurred in 1859? This phenomena would later be known as the Carrington Event. Apart from the storm’s sheer intensity, why was it significant and what lessons can we learn from the Carrington Event... now and into the future.

4ZZZ's Toni Pankaluic spoke with Professor Jonti Horner, an Astronomer from the University of Southern Queensland.

For a deep dive...

Jonti recommends checking out the SpaceWeather website, where you can observe current conditions outside Earth. NASA also has comprehensive programs monitoring weather out in the cosmos.

You can read up on this news article (dated October 8, 1909) about a Perth goldminer’s first-hand observations during the Carrington Event. Or check out this Telegraph article (dated September 21, 2023) on the risks of potential solar storms.

Here's a fascinating research paper submitted to the Council of European Union called 'Solar Storms: A New Challenge on the Horizon?'.