Wow! Did We Just Live Through an Actual Carrington Event? Maybe...

I forgot to mention one important tidbit. This NASA video explains more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWjtYSRlOUI Solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) are NOT the same phenomenon. Solar flares are basically photons that reach us in 8 minutes. CMEs are charged particles that take days to reach Earth This magnetic storm was caused by the CME and not the flares. So even though the flare might have been super powerful (e.g. x30) it wouldn't affect the magnetic field at all and only have effects on the ionosphere which can affect radiocommunication but will not result in aurora or major magnetic anomalies on the surface such as busted transformers I noticed a lot of comments talk about the solar flare power (e.g. usually expressed as X45 such as the one for Carrington event) - but this doesn't tell us about the magnetic effects and the powerful aurora. This event did include a solar flare (a few actually) but they were not as impressive as the 5 CMEs that followed. Lastly, solar flares are mostly an issue for astronauts and satellites, not so much for us here on Earth. CMEs are an issue for everything as these are highly charged particles traveling super fast so...tl;dr solar flares and CMEs sometimes happen together, sometimes they don't, but they're a different phenomenon with different effects

Yes, Carrington was G5, but that's because G5 is the top of the scale. A super flare or whatever nonsense that red dwarfs do would also be G5. But there's a distinct difference between "auroras in the temperate band" and "telegraph lines catch on fire" and "everything catches on fire."

Anton, you made a comment about being jaded and less happier... I'm so sorry... And it took until you said this to notice the change in your behavior... We all love you, and we hope that one day, you find real peace inside your life. You're an amazing human being, who makes me super proud to be named Anton as well.

Someone once told me "you're allowed to feel whatever you're feeling". Point was to not punish myself for not feeling the way I think I'm supposed to feel. Just putting that out there.

Anton, feeling jadded and tired is something a lot of us are feeling nowadays. I am Brazilian and we are going through a situation in the state of Rio Grande do Sul that is hard in our very soul. As everyone said you are very loved. Somedays are harder, but knowing so many love us is a balm to the soul.

Fun fact: Aurora make noise. Its a buzzing cracking popping sound. Its unique because its a sound that you hear ALL around you when you are outside with absolutely nothing around. Its wild.

I work at NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (the folks who put out the WSA-Enlil heliosphere model output that you showed). It has been estimated that the Carrington Event would have registered Dst (an index that provides information about the strength of the ring current in the magnetosphere) of somewhere in the range of -800 to -1750 nanotesla (nt) had we been measuring it back in 1859. Lower Dst corresponds to a larger geomagnetic storm and a more energetic event. The lowest Dst recorded for this recent event was -412nt, which is ~2x-4x smaller than the Carrington Event. So significantly smaller. Basically, not all G5/Kp9 storms are created equal, and perhaps we (at SWPC) need to introduce G6. There is also a consideration that needs to be made for the duration. The longer the storm persists, the more energy is dumped into our upper atmosphere.

Anton, my condolences ❤ I did not know what happened but felt through the screen. Then I read the comments. Your face, your emotions, I could feel something happened. Please stay strong! All of us are here for you, always.

Since it went so undernoticed I propose we call this event something along the lines of: The Silent Flare of 2024

The ancients would have thought it was insane to have a full eclipse followed by aurora so far south within weeks.

Anton I also lost my young son. I totally get the "less jaded" joke. Just want to let you know I'm so proud of you and your ability to persevere. Your amazing ❤❤

Wonderful Anton: Though my experience does not compare to losing a child, I experienced the deep loss of my brother due to drowning when i was 7 and he was 9. I applaud your tenacity and perseverance to continue to reach out to the world and teach via your unique style. I have been unable to conquer my experience in the same way and suffer every day since that time. Youre an inspiration for me of how to continue and to realize the bigger picture in order to continue to truly live. May we all be as wonderful as you.

Anton.. we all love your presence on Youtube. Thankyou for everything you do and for your generosity.

to people saying that it wasnt a carrington event because we still have electricity and nothing fried, as an electronics engineer, I can assure you that modern transmission lines are built very differently from 19th century telegraph lines. and even in the last 20 years since the last major event, everything from our electric grid to household electronics and cellphones have undergone all kinds of improvements and hardening against stuff like this. despite what you may have seen in popular media, even an actual emp intentionally detonated over the US with the intent to do harm, is unlikely to cause any serious damage to our critical infrastructure. that being said, I'm not saying that it was a carrington event. i'll leave that to the experts for that sort of thing. I'm just saying from my own area of expertise in electronics, I wouldnt expect a modern carrington-like event to cause nearly as much drama as what you hear on tv, or even compared to what happened in 2003. Improvements have been made. edit: to be clear, what i said about emps was to be taken separately from what i said about carrington-like events, but i'm not the most eloquent person out there. i was trying to make a comparison to the most extreme example of a damaging em event and I should've added more emphasis to the term "critical infrastructure". your 50 year old electric grid around your small town that never does infrastructure work doesnt count sadly, nor does the wiring in your house, nor the made in china electronics in your pocket. it was not my intent to imply that these things would survive a weaponized emp. but it wouldnt be the apocalyptic scenario you've no doubt seen on tv and read in the youtube comments section either. as for the topic of the video and carrington-like events, i stand by the statement that it would be significantly less impactful than what occurred in 2003 thanks to improvements in our infrastructure and changes in technology. also, the idea of a 50 year old electric grid is a bit of a foreign concept for me, since i live in florida. edit 2: my degrees are in both computer and electrical engineering. i have the same core educational background as the electrical engineers that work on the power grid, with some additional specialization in computer science and low voltage electronics. that being said i do not have the experiential background that comes from working in that field, and i agree that counts for a lot, but many of my peers and friends are electrical engineers that have gone on to such careers and we still talk.

“Younger, less jaded, and happier Anton.” I know tons of people are letting you know we care for you, and I just need to do the same. You’ve taught me more than classes in school. You’ve honestly such an amazing person, and I hope you know you’ve affected lives around the world. Because of you, I’ve started defaulting to “have a wonderful day” when I’m done talking with people. Every time I do say that, I think of you.

Dont give up is what i tell myself everyday. Lost my firstborn 11 years ago, life came back to me with my second who is now 1year old. Best of luck Anton and thank you.

For the first time in my nearly 60 years, the weather was favorable during a geomagnetic storm, and I got to see it! From our vantage point away from city lights near The Dalles, Oregon, USA, most of the activity seemed to be centered to the north and slightly east. Despite clear skies, it all looked a hazy gray. Most of the time I could only make out one or two stars in Cassiopeia. With just a fingernail of waxing moon setting we could still see to walk around, and there were no shadows like happens with moonlight. Just hints of green or magenta in the sky by eye. We had been told that a camera would really make a difference in what we saw, and that was certainly a fact. Cameras showed vivid colors of all sorts. Green, red, magenta, orange, yellow, but by eye they were all mixed together making a diffuse white light. The sky was only truly clear to our southwest. When I looked away somewhere else, the previously viewed area would be very different. Great curtains of green changing to magenta. A big knot of red overhead for a time and then gone when I looked a few minutes later.

My biggest surprise in WA was discovering that all the colors came alive when viewed through my phones camera. Spectacular!

A less jaded and slightly happier Anton. Respect. ❤

Anton, I’d love to just give you a hug, a teddy bear and talk about the interwoven fabric that makes up everything. Stay strong, find your peace. Love you King.