cr2291 (11. 985)

Entering the above synodic solar rotation period on the thirteenth of this month, the count (necessarily arbitrary as the Sun is not a solid body but rather a gaseous plasma with it spinning at significantly different rates at different latitudes, the equator rotating some eight days faster than polar climes), the Carrington count began on this day in 1853 as a method to track solar topology over short to moderate periods of time by tracking the movement of sunspots and eruptions. For the purposes of calculation, each diurnal cycle is a shade over twenty-seven terrestrial days and since its inception by Robert Christopher Carrington has been assigned a unique number. The meticulously recorded observations by this amateur astronomer from Chelsea further demonstrated the phenomena of solar flares and their influence on the Earth’s aurorae. Likely the result of a coronal mass ejection, the powerful geomagnetic storm of September 1859 which disabled telegraph systems worldwide and would be catastrophic for global connectivity were it to happen today is named the Carrington Event in his honour.