We've all heard of the Carrington Event in 1859.
I recently saw an article about how in the years 774-775, there had been a much larger solar storm; the article stated that this showed the risk of solar storms was higher than we realized.
That may be, but there was something in that article which, I thought, made that same point much more strongly.
I learned that in 1921, from May 13 to 15, there was a solar storm, weaker than the Carrington Event, but strong enough to cause telegraph equipment
to start fires. This was called the "New York Railroad Storm" at the time.
I found this alarming, because here was a weaker, and hence more common, event which also was clearly quite strong enough to fry an awful lot of the microcomputers out there!
John Savard
We've all heard of the Carrington Event in 1859.
I recently saw an article about how in the years 774-775, there had been a much larger solar storm; the article stated that this showed the risk of solar storms was higher than we realized.
That may be, but there was something in that article which, I thought, made that same point much more strongly.
I learned that in 1921, from May 13 to 15, there was a solar storm, weaker than the Carrington Event, but strong enough to cause telegraph equipment
to start fires. This was called the "New York Railroad Storm" at the time.
I found this alarming, because here was a weaker, and hence more common, event which also was clearly quite strong enough to fry an awful lot of the microcomputers out there!
We've all heard of the Carrington Event in 1859.
I recently saw an article about how in the years 774-775, there had been a >much larger solar storm; the article stated that this showed the risk of >solar storms was higher than we realized.
That may be, but there was something in that article which, I thought, made >that same point much more strongly.
I learned that in 1921, from May 13 to 15, there was a solar storm, weaker >than the Carrington Event, but strong enough to cause telegraph equipment
to start fires. This was called the "New York Railroad Storm" at the time.
I found this alarming, because here was a weaker, and hence more common, >event which also was clearly quite strong enough to fry an awful lot of the >microcomputers out there!
On Fri, 8 Jul 2022 08:25:49 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca>
wrote:
We've all heard of the Carrington Event in 1859.These events pose little direct risk to electronics. The high voltages
I recently saw an article about how in the years 774-775, there had been a >much larger solar storm; the article stated that this showed the risk of >solar storms was higher than we realized.
That may be, but there was something in that article which, I thought, made >that same point much more strongly.
I learned that in 1921, from May 13 to 15, there was a solar storm, weaker >than the Carrington Event, but strong enough to cause telegraph equipment >to start fires. This was called the "New York Railroad Storm" at the time. >I found this alarming, because here was a weaker, and hence more common, >event which also was clearly quite strong enough to fry an awful lot of the >microcomputers out there!
they induce are in long conductors. So things connected to the power
grid that aren't surge protected are problematic. Long communication
wires are problematic. Space-based assets are problematic.
Your PC, your mobile phone, your television... all will be fine. Of
course, much of their support infrastructure may not be.
These events pose little direct risk to electronics. The high voltages
they induce are in long conductors. So things connected to the power
grid that aren't surge protected are problematic. Long communication
wires are problematic. Space-based assets are problematic.
Your PC, your mobile phone, your television... all will be fine. Of
course, much of their support infrastructure may not be.
On Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 6:49:42 AM UTC-6, Chris L Peterson wrote:
These events pose little direct risk to electronics. The high voltages
they induce are in long conductors. So things connected to the power
grid that aren't surge protected are problematic. Long communication
wires are problematic. Space-based assets are problematic.
Your PC, your mobile phone, your television... all will be fine. Of
course, much of their support infrastructure may not be.
This assumes I have enough warning that my PC *isn't plugged in* when
it happens.
Also, while this may be true of small events, like those which caused
power outages in recent decades, the Carrington Event _and_ the one
in 1921 caused problems even with telegraph equipment that wasn't
connected to long telegraph wires - so the traces on the motherboard
may be enough to fry microscopic transistors in a _major_ event.
On Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 6:49:42 AM UTC-6, Chris L Peterson wrote:
These events pose little direct risk to electronics. The high voltages
they induce are in long conductors. So things connected to the power
grid that aren't surge protected are problematic. Long communication
wires are problematic. Space-based assets are problematic.
Your PC, your mobile phone, your television... all will be fine. Of
course, much of their support infrastructure may not be.
This assumes I have enough warning that my PC *isn't plugged in* when
it happens.
Also, while this may be true of small events, like those which caused
power outages in recent decades, the Carrington Event _and_ the one
in 1921 caused problems even with telegraph equipment that wasn't
connected to long telegraph wires - so the traces on the motherboard
may be enough to fry microscopic transistors in a _major_ event.
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