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The Sun Kings

By Phillip Adams on Late Night Live

In September 1859, the entire earth was engulfed in a huge cloud of seething gas - the skies were filled with a blood-red aurora that was seen all over the world. The international telegraph system crashed, machines burst into flames, compasses went haywire and lot of people thought the apocalypse was nigh.

Even scientists were left scratching their heads, none of them really knew what had caused this massive disturbance.

Well, no one except amateur English astronomer called Richard Carrington. What Carrington told the world about sun spots transformed the discipline of astronomy, but today he is a rather forgotten figure.



  • The Sun Kings:The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and theTale of How Modern Astronomy Began

    by Stuart Clark, Princeton University Press
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