A collaboration telling the story of the largest solar storm in recorded history, transforming archival data from 1859 into audiovisual experiences designed to be played live and exhibited in gallery spaces.
Published on January 1, 2024
The Carrington Event is a collaboration between Loud Numbers and Ben Dexter Cooley which tells the story of the largest solar storm in recorded history.
In 1859, the Earth experienced the strongest solar storm in recorded history. Telegraph stations caught fire and auroras were sighted as far south as the Caribbean. The storm became known as the Carrington Event.
In 2012, a Carrington-sized storm narrowly missed the Earth. If it had hit, damage to humankind's large-scale electronic infrastructure would have run to trillions of dollars, with a recovery time of four to ten years.
Data painstakingly transcribed from archival material dating back to 1859 was transformed into audiovisual experiences.
To better understand severe solar storms, scientists Karen Aplin and Giles Harrison digitised the magnetic records of the Carrington Event from Flagstaff Observatory in Melbourne. Data painstakingly transcribed from this archival material was transformed into audiovisual experiences designed to be played live to an audience, and to be exhibited in gallery spaces.
Recordings were also released on the French label Camembert Électrique.