Color image of the Carrington-class coronal mass ejection in 2012, which missed Earth. A black disk obscures the sun, so the massive discharges associated with the ejection are visible.

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1. Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 01-Sep-2023 17:52:24 UTC Robert McNees

   The solar storm that followed was one of the most intense on record.

   Auroras were reported all over the world and there were mass telegraph outages. Currents induced in the telegraph lines were strong enough to melt contacts, shock operators, and set some kinds of paper on fire.

   Solar storms of this magnitude are now referred to as “Carrington-class.” One such storm occurred in 2012. The coronal mass ejection it produced *just* missed the Earth.

   Image: NASA/STEREO