The
impact of space weather was dramatically demonstrated approximately a
century before the United States launched their
first satellite into space when awe-inspiring auroral displays were
seen over nearly the entire world on the night of Aug. 28-29, 1859.
In New York City, thousands watched “the heavens . . . arrayed in a
drapery more gorgeous than they have been for years.” The aurora
witnessed that Sunday night, the NewYork Times told its readers, “ will be referred to
hereafter among the events which occur but once or twice in a
lifetime.” Even more
spectacular displays occurred on Sept. 2. For residents of
Havana, Cuba, the sky that night “appeared stained with blood and
in a state of general conflagration.” Earth had experienced a
one-two punch from the Sun, the likes of which have not been recorded
since. From Aug. 28 through Sept. 4, auroral displays of
remarkable brilliance, color, and duration were observed around the
world, as far south as Central America in the Northern Hemisphere and
as far north as Santiago, Chile, in the Southern Hemisphere.
Even
after daybreak, when the auroras were no longer visible, disturbances
in Earth’s magnetic field were so
powerful that ground-level magnetic field monitoring sensors were
driven off scale. Telegraph networks in many
locations experienced major disruptions and outages. In several
regions, operators disconnected their systems
from the batteries and sent messages using only the current induced
by the aurora. In fact, telegraphs were
completely unusable for nearly eight hours in most places around the
world.
Humanity
was just beginning to develop a dependence on high-tech systems in
1859. The telegraph was the
technological wonder of the day. There were no high-power electrical
lines crisscrossing the continents or sensitive
satellites orbiting Earth, both of which are vulnerable to events of
the sort that disrupted telegraph systems
in the 19th century. There certainly was not yet a dependence on
instantaneous communication and satellite
remote imaging of Earth’s surface. Now, in the early part of the
21st century, as the Sun is ramping up its
activity in solar cycle 24, decision makers are asking: Has there
been adequate preparation for severe space weather
events, and what might be the consequences of worst-case events like
that of the storm of 1859?
