Fabio Pacucci: Are the Northern Lights dangerous?

Are the Northern Lights dangerous?

In September 1859, miners following the Colorado gold rush woke up to another sunny day. Or so they thought. To their surprise, they soon discovered it was actually 1am and the sky wasn't lit by the sun, but rather by brilliant drapes of light. The blazing glow was a solar storm— the largest in recorded history. So what exactly is a solar storm? Fabio Paccuci explains this astrophysical phenomena. [Directed by Nick Hilditch, narrated by Jack Cutmore-Scott].

A solar storm in 1859 lit the night sky so brightly miners believed it was daytime, revealing the immense power of the sun’s magnetic outbursts. These dazzling auroras stem from charged particles colliding with our atmosphere, but such storms can wreak havoc on technology. Past events have shut down power grids and ignited fires in telegraph and railway systems. Today, as society relies more on electronics, the risk of disruption from another major solar storm grows.