There’s a celestial dance happening above us, one that most of us rarely notice until it paints the night sky with otherworldly colors. Solar activity has fascinated humanity for millennia, but only recently have we begun to understand the incredible power and beauty of these cosmic events. From the mesmerizing auroras that decorate our poles to the invisible forces that can disrupt our technology, solar storms represent one of nature’s most spectacular phenomena. As we approach the peak of solar activity in the current cycle, there’s never been a better time to understand these stunning displays from our sun.

What Is a Solar Storm?

Let’s start with the basics. A solar storm is a series of space weather which occur when our sun gets temperamental. The sun is a giant ball of always-active gases, and occasionally, its magnetic turbulence creates dark, planet-sized regions on the surface called sunspots. These sunspots are cooler than the surrounding solar material and serve as the breeding ground for solar flares (massive eruptions of radiation) and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are explosions of plasma from the sun’s interior. When these eruptions head toward Earth, they create the space weather events we call solar storms.

The Birth of a Solar Storm – It All Starts With Sunspots

1. Sunspots: The Cool Origins of Hot Tempers

Sunspots appear darker because they’re significantly cooler than the rest of the sun—about 6300°F compared with the surrounding photosphere’s 10,000°F. The magnetic activity within a sunspot causes pressure to increase, preventing heated gas from rising to the surface. When this pressure becomes too great, it can trigger a solar flare or CME, shooting charged particles outward that typically take three to five days to reach Earth.

2. The Three Faces of Space Weather

Not all solar storms are created equal. The sun sends Earth space weather in three distinct forms :

• Radio blackouts (caused by eruptions of radiation from solar flares) are the most common, occurring approximately 2000 times per solar cycle
• Solar radiation storms involving significant numbers of energized protons
• Geomagnetic storms, the most powerful type, which produce colorful aurorae and can disrupt electronic systems

3. Solar Winds: The Sun’s Cosmic Delivery Service

In 1957, University of Chicago astrophysicist Eugene Parker theorized that the sun emits charged particles from its corona that eventually escape the sun’s gravity. Though widely criticized at the time, his description of solar wind proved accurate. These plasma winds containing protons and electrons carry geomagnetic storms toward Earth while remaining within a protected bubble called the “heliosphere” that encapsulates our entire solar system. As NASA associate administrator Nicky Fox poetically put it, “if the sun sneezes, Earth catches a cold”.

When Solar Storms Hit Earth – Aurorae and Historical Events

4. The Celestial Light Show: How Aurorae Work

When a substantial CME reaches Earth, its material contains its own magnetic field that clashes with Earth’s geomagnetic field. This interaction causes changes in our upper atmosphere roughly 53–375 miles above the planet’s surface. Protons and radiation rain along Earth’s magnetic field lines toward the north and south poles, where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms. These collisions fuel the particles with energy, making them glow as northern or southern lights—nature’s most breathtaking light show.

5. A Rose by Any Other Name: The History of “Aurora Borealis”

The term “aurora borealis” has a rich history. Galileo described the lights and named them in his Discourse on the Comets, published in 1619. Combining the Latin word for “dawn” and the Greek word for “north,” he wrote about the sky illuminating “in its northern parts in such a way that its brightness yields nothing to the brightest dawn”. Seventy years later, Captain James Cook became the first to describe the aurora australis, or southern lights, on his trip around the tip of South America.

6. A Palette of Colors and Sounds

Aurorae display different colors in the two hemispheres. Northern lights tend to show greener and whiter shades, while southern lights feature mostly green and pink, with blues, reds, and purples making cameo appearances at both poles. There are also reports that aurorae emit sound—often a hissing, crackling noise. NASA even encourages aurora fans to track sightings on Aurorasaurus, a citizen science database that contributes to better modeling of these marvels.

7. The Carrington Event: The Superstorm of 1859

The most extreme solar storm ever recorded occurred in September 1859. Amateur astronomer Richard Carrington spotted a sudden flash of brilliant light on the sun that proved to be the cause of the resulting catastrophe. In fewer than 20 hours, a CME traveled 90 million miles and arrived at Earth as an incredibly powerful solar storm. The event affected nearly all of the world’s 125,000 miles of telegraph lines, with some telegraph machines shocking their operators and igniting paper, while others ran on ambient energy even with their batteries disconnected. Aurorae lit up the sky almost as far south as the equator.

8. Historical Storms That Rivaled Carrington

While the Carrington Event remains the most famous historical storm, others have come close:

• The Chapman-Silverman storm of February 1872 produced auroras observed in sites as close to the equator as Bombay and Khartoum, disrupting telegraph communications on submarine cables in the Indian Ocean
• The May 1921 geomagnetic storm resulted in the farthest equatorward aurora ever documented, burning out fuses, electrical apparatus, and telephone stations, and causing fires at signal towers
• The March 1989 storm caused a 12-hour power outage in Quebec, casting more than 6 million people into darkness

Table: Major Historical Solar Storms and Their Impacts

Solar Storms and Our Modern World: The Technology Connection

9. When Technology Meets Solar Fury

The intense bombardment of electromagnetic particles in a geomagnetic storm can have serious consequences for our technology. These storms can shove satellites out of orbit, undermine undersea internet cables, take down power grids, disrupt circuits and signals, and more. During the May 2024 storm, one South Dakota farmer described his GPS-powered tractor as uncontrollable and moving in circles. Ocean monitoring systems that measure currents and record climate data also captured significant swings related to the messy magnetic field .

10. The Cold War Scare That Wasn’t

In 1967, a massive solar radio burst jammed several U.S. and United Kingdom radar and radio communications systems in polar regions during the Cold War. The U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command began readying their bombers, thinking the Soviet Union had jammed their communications. Fortunately, space weather forecasters identified the solar activity as the true culprit just in time to prevent escalation.

11. Measuring the Immeasurable: How We Categorize Solar Storms

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), created in 2010, helps us understand the sun’s behavior better. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ranks incoming geomagnetic storms on a scale from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme). A solar flare can be billions of times more powerful than a single nuclear bomb, with the strongest flares (X-class) occurring about 10 times each year. The biggest CME may house billions of tons of powerful solar material blown our way.

12. The Economic Impact of Solar Storms

If a solar storm on the same scale as the Carrington Event were to happen again, many predict an internet-wide crash that would halt online commerce and operations. Researchers have estimated that economic damages could tally up to $2.6 trillion just in the U.S. As our world becomes increasingly dependent on technology, our vulnerability to these space weather events grows accordingly.

Beyond Earth: Solar Storms Across the Solar System

13. We’re Not Special: Solar Storms Affect the Whole Solar System

Everything in space—systems, crafts, humans—is susceptible to damage from solar storms. Astronauts above Earth’s atmosphere need protective shielding to avoid health risks from radiation. Other planets, especially gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, have strong magnetic fields that interact with solar particles, allowing them to experience their own spectacular aurorae.

14. How Solar Storms Stripped Mars

Scientists believe solar storms played a key role in stripping Mars of its atmosphere. Mars once had oceans, seas, and rivers protected by a thick atmospheric blanket, but today its atmosphere is just 1 percent as dense as Earth’s. The theory suggests that approximately 3.7 billion years ago, Mars’s core cooled, weakening its magnetic power and making it more susceptible to solar storms. NASA’s MAVEN orbiter observed a CME hitting Mars in 2015 and noted that the planet’s sparse atmosphere vaporized about 10 times faster than normal during the event.

15. Ancient Solar Storms: Evidence From Ice and Trees

Scientists have evidence of solar storms going back thousands of years. A 2022 study published in Nature Communications reported that ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica contained evidence of a massive solar storm affecting Earth about 9200 years ago. Analysis of carbon-14 in tree rings led NASA to propose that a solar storm with severity similar to Carrington hit Earth in 774 CE. The earliest known written description of aurorae comes from China in 2600 BCE, with Aristotle also writing about them roughly 2000 years ago.

The Future of Solar Storms: Prediction and Preparation

16. The Solar Cycle and What’s Coming Next

The sun’s constant magnetic activity builds over an average 11-year cycle, and we’re currently in Solar Cycle 25, which started in December 2019 and will likely peak around late-2025. As we approach this peak, we can expect more frequent sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections. The May 2024 solar storm that delivered dazzling northern lights to places we don’t typically see them – as far south as Oklahoma and Florida – was the most intense storm in two decades and the largest display of aurorae in 500 years. With the peak still ahead, we may see even more dramatic displays in the coming years.

Protecting Our Power Grid and Technology

As we become more technologically dependent, understanding and preparing for solar storms becomes increasingly crucial. Power grid operators are implementing protective measures, and satellite companies are developing more resilient systems. While the beautiful auroras provide spectacular viewing opportunities for travelers and sky-watchers alike, they also serve as a reminder of the sun’s incredible power and our need to understand it better.

Let’s Embrace the Sun’s Majesty

Solar storms represent one of nature’s most powerful and beautiful phenomena. They remind us that we’re part of a larger cosmic system, connected to our star in ways both visible and invisible. While they pose challenges to our technology, they also offer unparalleled opportunities to witness the beauty of our universe.

At Travelohlic, we believe understanding natural wonders like solar storms enriches our travel experiences and deepens our connection to this amazing planet we call home. The solar activity that creates these challenges also paints our skies with unforgettable displays—reminding us that sometimes, the greatest wonders come from embracing both the light and the storm.

“The same solar forces that challenge our technology also paint our skies with wonders – reminding us that we’re part of something far greater than ourselves.”

Want to experience the celestial wonders of our planet firsthand? At Travelohlic, we help curious travelers discover the world’s most spectacular natural phenomena. From northern lights destinations to stargazing sanctuaries, we’re here to help you witness the magic of our universe. Explore with us, and turn celestial events into lifelong memories.