Midnight Became Noon: The Solar Storm That Lit Up Florida

August 1859. Floridians saw bright red and green auroras and thought the swamps were on fire. Days later, astronomer Richard Carrington spotted a massive white flash from the Sun at 11 AM. Seventeen hours later, the sky lit up so bright at 1 AM that gold miners made breakfast thinking it was morning. Telegraph systems surged with electricity, shocking operators unconscious. The Carrington Event: the biggest solar storm ever recorded. The Sun vomited electrified gas at 2 million mph, slamming Earth's magnetic field. If it happened today, satellites, power grids, and GPS could be fried for months. NOAA's GOES satellites now watch the Sun 24/7, wearing literal "sunglasses" to survive outside Earth's protective magnetic field.