Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 September 15 Your browser does not support the video tag. Earth During a Powerful Solar Storm Video Credit: [2]NASA's [3]SVS, [4]SWRC, [5]CCMC, [6]SWMF; [7]T. Bridgeman [8]et al. Explanation: Can our Sun become dangerous? Yes, sometimes. Every few years our [9]Sun ejects a scary-large [10]bubble of hot gas into the [11]Solar System. Every hundred years or so, when the timing, location, and [12]magnetic field connections are just right, such a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) will hit the [13]Earth. When this happens, the [14]Earth not only experiences dramatic auroras, but its magnetic field gets quickly pushed back and [15]compressed, which causes electric grids to surge. Some of these surges could be dangerous, [16]affecting satellites and [17]knocking out power grids -- which can take months to fix. Just such a storm -- called the [18]Carrington Event -- occurred in [19]1859 and caused [20]telegraph wires to spark. A similar [21]CME passed near the Earth in 2012, and the [22]featured animated video shows a computer model of what might have happened if it had been a direct hit. In this model, the Earth's [23]magnetopause becomes so compressed that it went inside the orbit of [24]geosynchronous communication satellites. Tomorrow's picture: stellar cathedral __________________________________________________________________ [25]< | [26]Archive | [27]Submissions | [28]Index | [29]Search | [30]Calendar | [31]RSS | [32]Education | [33]About APOD | [34]Discuss | [35]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell ([39]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [40]Specific rights apply. [41]NASA Web Privacy, [42]Accessibility, [43]Notices; A service of: [44]ASD at [45]NASA / [46]GSFC, [47]NASA Science Activation & [48]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://www.nasa.gov/ 3. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 4. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/heliophysics/spaceweather 5. https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 6. https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/research/theory-computational-methods/space-weather-modeling-framework/ 7. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/search/?people=Tom Bridgman 8. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4189/ 9. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/ 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180902.html 11. https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/ 12. https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasa-understanding-the-magnetic-sun/ 13. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/ 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220809.html 15. https://i.pinimg.com/236x/68/39/3f/68393f3ed2ce3ab1aa221497496fb290.jpg 16. https://www.space.com/may-solar-storm-largest-mass-migration-satellites 17. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/images/u33/finalBoulderPresentation042611 (1).pdf 18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event 19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1859#Events 20. https://www.history.com/articles/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event 21. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/nmp/st5/SCIENCE/cme.html 22. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4189/ 23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetopause 24. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/first-geosynchronous-satellite/ 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250914.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 31. https://apod.com/feed.rss 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 34. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250915 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250916.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 42. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 44. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 45. https://www.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 47. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 48. http://www.mtu.edu/