Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2024

12 JULY-AUGUST 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING small percentage of In- ternet traffic passes through satellites, that traffic includes telecom- munications, financial markets, everything con- nected to GPS networks, and countless other ac- tivities. Air flights would become risky due to possible nav- igation errors and com- munications blackouts owing to the interrup- tion of the satellite net- work. Repairing or re- placing damaged satel- lites could take years. On the Earth’s surface, blackouts would be widespread, and many millions of people would no longer be able to power household appli- ances, use computers, or charge smartphones and similar devices for days or weeks. Television and radio signals would be absent or heavily distorted. Credit card circuits, ATMs and fuel stations would go out of service, preventing populations from get- I f a Carrington-type event were to occur today, we would have a scenario like the one pictured here: overloaded high-voltage lines, out-of-use cars and other means of transport, continent- wide blackouts, telecommunications disruption, destruction of the Internet, and countless other problems, many of which could not be resolved in a few days or weeks, but would be destined to last for years. The social consequences would be catastrophic. T wo power- ful solar flares that ex- ploded in the active region 3664 on May 8 and 9, 2024 (here imaged from space at different wave- lengths) were the cause of the intense auroral manifestations that occurred up to tropical latitudes across the planet. [NASA] means of communication, now the Internet connects us and everything we do. Computers run our society and influence every single aspect of our lives, from traffic control to elec- tricity grids, from banking to health- care and entertainment. Satellites orbiting the Earth would be the first to suffer arguably irre- versible damage, and while only a