Richard Christopher Carrington was an English amateur astronomer whose 1859 astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flares as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon the Earth and its aurorae; and whose 1863 records of sunspot observations revealed the differential rotation of the Sun.
Carrington's house and observatory on Furze Hill, Redhill, Surrey (between 1852 and 1857)
Sunspots of 1 September 1859 as sketched by Richard Carrington
Carrington Event
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The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking from 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in multiple telegraph stations. The geomagnetic storm was most likely the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun colliding with Earth's magnetosphere.
Image of the July 2012 solar storm, which generated CMEs of comparable strength to the one of 1859. Note the small bright circle in the light baffle which demonstrates the size of the sun.
Aurora during a geomagnetic storm that was most likely caused by a coronal mass ejection from the Sun on 24 May 2010, taken from the International Space Station