The Sun's Temper Tantrums: What You Should Know About Solar Storms

Solar storms are associated with the lovely aurora borealis, but they can have negative impacts, too. Last month, Earth was treated to a massive aurora borealis that reached as far south as Texas. The event was attributed to a solar storm that lasted nearly a full day and will likely contend for the strongest of 2026. Such solar storms are usually fun for people on Earth, as we are protected from solar radiation by our planet's atmosphere, so we can just enjoy the gorgeous greens and pretty purples in the night sky.But solar storms are a lot more than just the aurora borealis we see, and sometimes they can cause real damage. There are several examples of this in recorded history, with the earliest being the Carrington Event, a solar storm that took place on Sept. 1, 1859. It remains the strongest solar storm ever recorded, where the world's telegraph machines became overloaded with energy from it, causing them to shock their operators, send ghost messages and even catch on fire. Things have changed a lot since the mid-1800s, and while today's technology is a lot more resistant to solar radiation than it once was, a solar storm of that magnitude could still cause a lot of damage.  The sun's magnetic field is all over the place, which partially contributes to solar storm activity and severity.  NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSALWhat is a solar storm?A solar storm is a catchall term that describes any disturbance in the sun that involves the violent ejection of solar material into space. This can come in the form of coronal mass ejections, where clouds of plasma are ejected from the sun, or solar flares, which are concentrated bursts of electromagnetic radiation (aka light). A sizable percentage of solar storms don't hit Earth, and the sun is always belching material into space, so minor solar storms are quite common. The only ones humans tend to talk about are the bigger ones that do hit the Earth. When this happens, it causes geomagnetic storms, where solar material interacts with the Earth's magnetic fields, and the excitations can cause issues in everything from the power grid to satellite functionality. It's not unusual to hear "solar storm" and "geomagnetic storm" used interchangeably, since solar storms cause geomagnetic storms.  The sun is much more active during its solar maximum, which correlates to more solar storms.  NASASolar storms ebb and flow on an 11-year cycle known as the solar cycle. NASA scientists announced that the sun was at the peak of its most recent 11-year cycle in 2024, and, as such, solar storms have been more frequent. The sun will metaphorically chill out over time, and fewer solar storms will happen until the cycle repeats. This cycle has been stable for hundreds of millions of years and was first observed in the 18th century by astronomer Christian Horrebow. Coronal mass ejections can be huge. The one in this image launched in 2012 and, if it had hit Earth, would've caused a Carrington Event-level solar storm. Instead, it hit NASA's Stereo A satellite, which survived the storm and continues to studies the sun to this day. NASAHow strong can a solar storm get?The Carrington Event is a standout example of just how strong a solar storm can be, and such events are exceedingly rare. A rating system didn't exist back then, but it would have certainly maxed out on every chart that science has today. We currently gauge solar storm strength on four different scales. The first rating that a solar storm gets is for the material belched out of the sun. Solar flares are graded using the Solar Flare Classification System, a logarithmic intensity scale that starts with B-class at the lowest end, and then increases to C, M and finally X-class at the strongest. According to NASA, the scale goes up indefinitely and tends to get finicky at higher levels. The strongest solar flare measured was in 2003, and it overloaded the sensors at X17 and was eventually estimated to be an X45-class flare.  The ESA/NASA SOHO satellite keeps an eye on the sun so humans can see solar flares when they happen. This massive solar flare erupted on Jan. 24, 2012.  ESA/NASACMEs don't have a named measuring system, but are monitored by satellites and measured based on the impact they have on the Earth's geomagnetic field. Once the material hits Earth, NOAA uses three other scales to determine how strong the storm was and which systems it may impact. They include: Geomagnetic storm (G1-G5): This scale measures how much of an impact the solar material is having on Earth's geomagnetic field. Stronger storms can impact the power grid, electronics and voltage systems. Solar radiation storm (S1-S5): This measures the amount of solar radiation present, with stronger storms increasing exposure to astronauts in space and to people in high-flying aircraft. It also describes the storm's impact on satellite functionality and radio communications. Radio blackouts (R1-R5): Less commonly used