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Carrington Event - Quiz
Contributed by: Law
  • 1. What is the Carrington Event considered to be in recorded history?
A) A massive volcanic eruption
B) The most intense geomagnetic storm
C) The largest earthquake in the 19th century
D) The first recorded solar eclipse
  • 2. During which solar cycle did the Carrington Event occur?
A) Solar cycle 5
B) Solar cycle 15
C) Solar cycle 10
D) Solar cycle 20
  • 3. What is the primary cause of the Carrington Event geomagnetic storm?
A) Lunar eclipse
B) Coronal mass ejection (CME)
C) Solar wind fluctuation
D) Meteoroid impact
  • 4. How long did the CME take to travel from the Sun to Earth?
A) 24 hours
B) 72 hours
C) 17.6 hours
D) 48 hours
  • 5. Which astronomers independently recorded the solar flare of 1 September 1859?
A) Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei
B) Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson
C) Balfour Stewart and Elias Loomis
D) Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace
  • 6. What effect did the Carrington Event have on telegraph stations?
A) Destroyed all paper documents
B) Caused sparking and fires
C) Increased message speed
D) Caused global communication blackouts
  • 7. Where were the auroras from the Carrington Event visible?
A) Only the equator
B) Only the North Pole
C) Globally
D) Only in the United States
  • 8. How did the light from the aurora affect gold miners in the Rocky Mountains?
A) It guided them to gold deposits
B) It blinded them momentarily
C) It caused them to flee their camps
D) It awakened them as they thought it was morning
  • 9. What was the estimated strength (Dst) range of the Carrington Event storm?
A) −2.00 to −3.50 μT
B) −0.80 to −1.75 μT
C) −0.10 to −0.50 μT
D) −5.00 to −10.0 μT
  • 10. What did Balfour Stewart observe in the Kew Observatory magnetometer record?
A) A geomagnetic solar flare effect (magnetic crochet)
B) Radio frequency interference
C) A total power failure
D) An increase in seismic activity
  • 11. Why is it believed the CME traveled to Earth faster than typical CMEs?
A) A prior CME had cleared the way of ambient solar wind
B) Gravitational pull from Jupiter
C) The Sun was at its peak solar maximum
D) Magnetic alignment with the moon
  • 12. What potential damage could a storm of this magnitude cause today?
A) Widespread electrical disruptions and satellite damage
B) A permanent shift in Earth's axis
C) Global cooling of the climate
D) The loss of the atmosphere
  • 13. What did Richard Carrington say regarding his uncertainty about the solar-terrestrial connection?
A) Lightning strikes twice
B) One swallow does not make a summer
C) Nature is a mysterious clockwork
D) The sun is but a shadow of the earth
  • 14. Which mathematician compiled worldwide reports on the 1859 storm's effects?
A) Balfour Stewart
B) Richard Carrington
C) C. F. Herbert
D) Elias Loomis
  • 15. How were Carrington and Hodgson's solar flare reports published?
A) In a private diary entry
B) Side by side in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
C) Via telegram to the United States
D) In a local newspaper in London
  • 16. Which low latitude area reported seeing the aurora?
A) Greenland
B) Iceland
C) Antarctica
D) Colombia
  • 17. How bright was the aurora compared to the moon?
A) Dimmer than the moon
B) Comparable to a candle
C) Equal to a sunset
D) Greater than the full moon
  • 18. What did some people fear the aurora was a sign of?
A) A global volcanic eruption
B) Armageddon
C) The discovery of a new planet
D) A new solar age
  • 19. Where was the Australian gold miner C. F. Herbert working when he saw the aurora?
A) Rokewood, Victoria
B) Brisbane, Queensland
C) Perth, Western Australia
D) Sydney, New South Wales
  • 20. What color was the aurora frequently described as when reaching the zenith?
A) Solid white
B) Bright orange
C) Deep green
D) Rich purple
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