Prepare to be blown away – the great solar storm of 1859 is coming to life on a television near you!
I have great pleasure in announcing that the television programme I helped make last year is about to be transmitted.  The episode is called Cosmic Fire and is part of a three episode series called Storm Worlds (Storm Planets in Canada).  The producers contacted me after reading The Sun Kings and wanted to bring a giant solar storm to virtual life – both recreating the 19th Carrington storm from the book and imagining what would happen if something similar took place today.

From the series website:
“What would happen if the “perfect storm” erupted on the surface of the Sun?

This question is on the minds of some of the world’s finest space scientists, because the more we learn about weather on the Sun, the more we learn that our star – the source of our sustenance and life – may also prove to be the source of our destruction. In 1859, a massive solar storm known as a Coronal Mass Ejection caused an unprecedented worldwide display of colour and beauty in the form of the Northern Lights. But it also spread havoc through the newly established telegraph system. Now, scientists believe that if a storm on the same scale were to happen again, it could destroy us ... ”
Read more about the series here

Watch it on television in the following countries:
History Television Canada - 10th May 9pm ET/PT
Nat Geo France - 9th May at 10:35pm CET
Nat Geo Latin America - 9th May 11pm
Nat Geo Germany - 12th May 10pm CET
Nat Geo US - 16th May 8pm ET
Nat Geo HD UK - 16th May 8pm GMT
Nat Geo UK - 16th May 8pm GMT
Nat Geo Turkey - 19th May 9pm EET
Nat Geo Australia New Zealand - 6th June 7:30pm
Nat Geo HD Germany - 20th June 10pm CET
Nat Geo HD France - 17th July 8:35pm CET