| The Day the Sun Exploded
What happens to Earth when the Sun “explodes”? To find out, our astronomy editor Bob Berman went back in time to 1859. What he discovered will make you glad to have the predictive power of The Old Farmer’s Almanac at your side. |  |
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Dear Solar Spectator,
The Old Farmer’s Almanac astronomy editor, Bob Berman, wanted to find out what happens on Earth when the Sun “explodes.” Solar flares, violent solar phenomena that make even modern solar researchers nervous, were first witnessed in 1859 by a scientific community that was puzzled and fascinated by sunspots—dark marks on the solar surface that came and went in roughly 11-year cycles.
None of these experts had any idea what they were, how they moved across the Sun, or whether they affected Earth. One of them, 33-year-old British astronomer Richard Carrington, was obsessed by solar activity. Through his 4-inch refracting telescope, he observed the spots on every clear day.
The days leading into September 1859 had seen unusually intense solar storms, and scientists were abuzz. Suddenly, at 11:18 a.m. on September 1, Carrington was rewarded for his diligence: To his amazement, a large sunspot cluster near the top of the Sun grew strangely dazzling. Despite a protective eye filter, he could barely watch. The flare became so luminous that it doubled the brightness of the Sun. He knew that this was no optical illusion, and his observation was soon confirmed by another British observer, Richard Hodgson.
As Carrington and Hodgson watched the flare, instruments at England’s King’s Observatory recorded a disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field. Would this be the long-sought evidence that events on the Sun affect our planet?
The answer arrived that night. |
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Brilliant auroras in deep reds (not the ordinary green hues) lit up the skies around the globe, even over regions as far south as the Caribbean. These twisted displays alarmed millions of people who had never seen or imagined that the heavens could possibly contort in this way. So bright were these illuminations over the U.S. West that some people assumed that the day had dawned—so they got up and made breakfast. In New York City, gawkers crowded rooftops and sidewalks.
The light shows were breathtaking, but other effects were literally shocking.
To find out what happened across the United States and Europe during the worst recorded solar storm in history, as well as the effects of three more solar storms—plus a bundle of BONUSES—sign up for The Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership today! You’ll get all that and more in the The 2019 Old Farmer’s Almanac, which comes with your membership. |  | | About That Exploding Sun | Do we need to worry about these massive explosions on the Sun? Thanks to modern astronomy, we can see any threats as they’re happening, which offers the potential to issue warnings. Our “Solar Sentries” are specialized satellites that keep us updated on solar activity. The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) can even peer behind the Sun to see coming storms.
If you want to find out more about astronomy, plus much more useful information, wit, and wisdom, you can get it all, plus a bundle of BONUSES, with an Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership! |
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With an Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership, you’ll get the handsome hardcover 2019 edition of the Almanac, the full-color monthly EXTRA! digital magazine with a special Sky Map update and content not found in the print edition, plus a bundle of special bonuses where you’ll learn more about the many fascinating astronomical features of our universe. With an Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership, you’ll learn more about:
- The strange things that happen every 29-1/2 days when the Moon is full.
- Interesting facts and folklore about the Sun and the Moon.
- Astronomical events for the coming year.
- When to plant your vegetables—and how to preserve them for the winter.
- Why a dog might be the best medicine for what ails you.
With your hardcover Old Farmer’s Almanac, your monthly EXTRA! digital magazine, and your bundle of special bonuses, you’ll always be up-to-date on everything under the Sun—and Moon! |
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| Get full access to everything under the Sun, including the Moon, weather, vegetable and flower gardening, folklore, nature, home remedies, and more —with your Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership! | Introducing The Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership! This new and exciting club is designed especially for you—and it’s packed with articles, advice, best days, facts, and fun that you cannot get anywhere else!
Your Charter Membership gives you all the elements of a true almanac—a “calendar of the heavens” and a “time capsule of the year” for 2019, plus some bonuses when you join today. More about those bonuses in a minute.
Since 1792—in fact, every day since!—The Old Farmer’s Almanac has been trusted and enjoyed by folks from all walks of life: people who grow their own food depend on the planting dates; home cooks, gardeners, and folks hungry for something quick and delicious love the recipes; just about everybody checks on the Moon phases and sunrise and set times … as well as the weather forecasts … to know what to expect on any given day, week, month, or season.
With The Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership, you’ll have content that is both useful and humorous. You’ll discover quirky facts, timeless adages and advice, amusing quotes and profound proverbs, contests, Anecdotes and Pleasantries, Best Days to do things (from fishing to weaning from planting to setting eggs, for example), and so much more!
Your Charter Membership gives you everything that you’ve come to expect and depend on in an Almanac—valuable and accurate content and advice. In fact, fulfillment of readers’ expectations has made our Almanac the best-known and most sought-after Almanac for generations.
Did you know? The Old Farmer’s Almanac is the oldest continuously published periodical in North America! We got started with this valuable content in 1792—when George Washington was president and the U.S. Post Office Department was first established . . . and we’ve been at it ever since then, for 227 years! |
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People always ask how and why our Almanac has lasted—and continues to be a best seller. The answer is simple: We stay true to the original mission of founder Robert B. Thomas, who declared in an early edition, “Our main endeavor is to be useful, with a pleasant degree of humor.”
We believe that, especially in today’s trying times, finding humor and enjoyment in daily life is important and can be uplifting, and we hope you like our light-hearted fun and find the joy in chuckling at our witty and inspiring words.
This will make you smile, too: Every edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac is fresh, new, and designed to make the year one of the best ever. How do we do that? With entertaining and informative articles. For example: | | Want to know about the most fun and fascinating trends for 2019? Here’s a hint: We’ll be exercising in the grocery stores, we’ll be drinking banana milk, shopping in stores with “quiet hours,” and decorating with “scratch-and-sniff” wallpaper. Are you a vegetable gardener or want to be one? Many gardeners consider the Almanac their most valuable tool, so this year, for all of you trying to grow food we’ve got foolproof advice that promises a harvest the first year and every one thereafter. Perhaps you grow flowers—or want to: In the 2019 Almanac, you’ll learn which flowers are edible, when to pick them, and how to use them (e.g., pick apple blossoms in late spring and sprinkle them onto a Waldorf salad, all summer use impatiens as a garnish). |
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But that’s just the beginning! Here’s just some of what else you’ll discover in the 2019 Almanac:
- The Faces of Farming: ambitious folks from across the country tell about how they got started, the hurdles they faced, and the rewards of working the land
- Timetables and advice for spotting meteor showers, bright stars, conjunctions, and other fascinating astronomical events
- Best days for planting, pruning, weeding, grafting, and controlling pests, plus the easiest-ever soil test (all you need is a pair of men’s clean, white, 100% cotton underwear and a small shovel)
- Daily weather forecasts for all regions of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii
- Fresh new ways to savor the asparagus, beet, corn, and cucumber harvests, with “The ABCs of Pickling”
- Easy, delicious, and Almanac prize-winning recipes using oranges
- "Adventures in the Zodiac Zone"—what’s behind the Sun and Moon?
- A look back at "The Day the Sun Exploded"—and a look forward to how it could happen again
- The “full” explanation of if and why more strange things happen during a full Moon than at other times.
- Facts, folklore, and traditions in “Telling the Bees”—Did you know that beekeepers often invite their bees to weddings?
- Thinking of getting a pig, a cow, a goat, or maybe chickens? Or know someone who is? You do not want to miss “The Pros and Cons of Backyard Livestock.”
- Why a Dog May be Your Best Medicine—and your child’s, too!
- The Story of Baseball’s Most Amazin' Season, with the “Miracle Mets”
- "How to Make Sausage at Home"- It’s easier than you think, especially if you make patties instead of links
- All this and too much more to mention for 288 pages of riveting content!
Plus, the Almanac’s easy-to-follow charts, maps, and photos bring it all to life for you—making it all easy to understand and use. |
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| An Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership will deliver exciting rewards for you—and for a special introductory rate, HALF-OFF right now, to all new Charter Members. | When you join today, you’ll ensure that you get the latest details about Almanac events and forecasts—and you’ll enjoy all these benefits: - Your best garden ever—Almanac gardening advice, planting dates, time-saving tips, and detailed guidance from experts will get you growing like never before.
- You’ll know in advance about every important astronomical event in 2019—when they’re happening, where in the sky, and the details and delights of each one.
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- You’ll be a weather expert in your family and circle of friends—no one else you know will have the detailed knowledge about forecasting and weather that you’ll have . . . and for every region of the country!
How can you not consider becoming an Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Member? | | What you’ll get with an Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership. | When you claim your Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership today, your Charter membership will include:
- The Old Farmer’s 2019 Almanac—Our newest edition, the hard-copy version will be shipped to you right away with everything you’ve come to expect from the world’s premier almanac.
- Bonus #1: The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2019 Gardening Wall Calendar. Lovely to look at, fun to use! Each month features a beautiful full-color original illustration of seasonal plant or animal life, as well as timeless gardening secrets and advice, folklore, fun facts, and holidays—plus Moon phases to help you use the “Planting by the Moon” chart and have your best garden ever!
- Bonus #2: The Old Farmer’s Almanac 1819 edition— A printed version will be shipped to you with your order. Take a trip down memory lane and see what one of our early Almanacs looked like! It’s a time capsule of life 200 years ago!
- Bonus #3: The Old Farmer’s Almanac 1919 edition—A printed version will be shipped to you with your order. Another classic Almanac, this takes you back a century: Compare the content then and now!
- Bonus #4: The Old Farmer’s Almanac EXTRA! —A treasure trove of digital updates and Almanac content not found in the printed edition, including audio and video multimedia content. EXTRA! is far more interactive and fun than plain printed pages!
And all of this is available to you—right now—when you claim your Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership.
What are you waiting for? Half-off this Charter Membership offer is in effect for you right now!
No other Almanac has so many fun and fascinating facts, timely and accurate events and predictions, and topical and useful articles all in one place for your easy access and use—and covering more regions of North America than any other almanac or resource! |
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| HALF-PRICE Offer Now in Effect!
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| The "Best Value Club" is really an incredible value! | |
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| Why not join right now? | Gardeners, weather and sky watchers, and nature lovers everywhere have been enjoying The Old Farmer’s Almanac for generations, and now it’s easier than ever for YOU to experience it all with an Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership.
When we created this new club for folks like you, we wanted to make it easy to use, easy to order, and packed with content and value—that’s why we named it the “Best Value Club”! The Almanac is the ultimate resource for gardening, astronomy, folklore, nature, and more, and now it can be all yours with your Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership. |
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HALF-PRICE Introductory Offer is Now in Effect!
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Activate your Charter Membership in The Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club today, and you’ll get access to unique almanac content that you can’t find anywhere else—plus four bonuses!
Join other weather and astronomy watchers, gardeners, nature and food lovers, and trivia fans—for half-off when you respond today!
This is a limited-time offer that you should take advantage of right now. |
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Why not be among the first—gardeners in your neighborhood; weather and astronomy watchers under the Sun; cooks in your community; trivia fans in your circle; nature-lovers in your area—to join us today and benefit from all the valuable Almanac information that you simply cannot get anywhere else?
Become an Old Farmer’s Almanac Best Value Club Charter Member today—while this special HALF-PRICE offer lasts!
Sincerely,
Janice Stillman
Editor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac |
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| HALF-PRICE Offer Now in Effect!
Special Charter Membership Invitation for You:
Introducing The Old Farmer's Almanac Best Value Club! |
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Get Your Special Pass—
Access to the World's Most Beloved Almanac | | Be among the first to claim your Old Farmer's Almanac Best Value Club Charter Membership—become a Charter Member today! | |
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| The "Best Value Club" is really an incredible value! | |
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