Solar Flares Unleashed

The Sun occasionally erupts with solar flares — sudden bursts of electromagnetic radiation that race across the solar system at light speed. The largest release energy equivalent to billions of hydrogen bombs in minutes. In 1859, the Carrington Event produced a solar storm so powerful it set telegraph lines on fire and lit auroras as far south as the Caribbean. A similar event today could knock out power grids, satellites, and GPS for months, which is why spacecraft like the Solar Dynamics Observatory watch the Sun around the clock.