# Carrington Event: The Solar Storm That Could Blackout the Grid

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/understand-all-6956841/carrington-event-the-solar-storm-that-could-blackout-the-grid
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/understand-all-6956841/carrington-event-the-solar-storm-that-could-blackout-the-grid.md
Podcast: [Understand All](https://stenobird.com/podcast/understand-all-6956841)
Published: 2026-07-10T08:33:02+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/carrington-event-the-solar-storm-that-could-blackout-the-grid--72620023
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72620023/carrington_event_the_solar_storm_that_could_blackout_the_grid.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/understand-all-6956841/episodes/carrington-event-the-solar-storm-that-could-blackout-the-grid
Duration seconds: 267

## Resource

In 1859, a solar storm known as the Carrington Event sent telegraph wires sparking and set the stage for the biggest “what if” in space weather history. In this episode, we explore how a repeat Carrington Event could threaten the modern grid, power lines, satellites, GPS, and the systems that keep daily life running — listen now to hear why the Sun is still a risk we can’t ignore. The Carrington Event was a 1859 solar storm so powerful it sparked telegraph wires and became the benchmark for a worst-case geomagnetic storm. In this episode, we unpack what happened, how coronal mass ejections drive space weather, and why a repeat could stress the modern power grid, satellites, GPS, and communications. • The 1859 event remains the largest geomagnetic storm in the instrumental record. • Telegraph systems literally sparked, shocked operators, and sometimes worked with batteries disconnected. • A modern Carrington-level storm could disrupt transformers, navigation, and timing systems. • Monitoring from NOAA and NASA gives warning, but extreme storms still carry real risk. Chapter labels: Richard Carrington’s telescope | Telegraphs on fire | From CME to geomagnetic storm | What a repeat could do now Related resources and links: [More episodes on space weather](#/space-weather), [Subscribe to the show](#/subscribe), [NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center]( https://www.swpc.noaa.gov ), [NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory]( https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov ) If this story changed how you think about the Sun, share it with a friend and tell us what system you think would fail first.

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## Transcript

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