Dr. John F. Cooper from the Heliospheric Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Barrow, Alaska. John was the chairperson for the Polar Gateways Arctic Circle Sunrise Conference. Photo Credit - Jay Friedlander
The most powerful solar flare in the last 500 years occurred on September 2, 1859 and was sighted by two astronomers who happened to be looking at the sun at exactly the right time!