Astoria Borealis

The Astoria Borealis was an industrial accident that occurred at a Con Edison substation in Astoria, Queens, New York City on December 27, 2018. During the incident, a 138,000 volt coupling capacitor potential device failed, resulting in an arc flash which in turn burned aluminum, lighting up the sky with a blue-green spectacle visible for miles around, and as far as New Jersey. It received the humorous name "Astoria Borealis" due to its resemblance to the northern lights. The event was covered extensively on social media[1] and LaGuardia Airport temporarily lost power, but there were neither deaths nor injuries.[2][3] Such was the magnitude of the bizarre illumination that extraterrestrial visitation was a common supposition.[4][5]

Not to be confused with Aurora Borealis.

Incident

On the night of December 27, 2018, an electrical fault in voltage-monitoring equipment triggered a fire in the Astoria East substation on 20th Avenue and 32nd Street in Queens.[5][6] While only part of a single section within the substation, it caused an intense blue light that could be seen for miles, and lit up the night sky bright enough to resemble daytime - clearly visible across other boroughs, and as far as New Jersey. The blue color was caused by refraction off the cloud cover, despite the white color of the explosion itself.[5][7] LaGuardia Airport, which suffered an outage due to the accident, was forced to temporarily close.[5] Power was also knocked out at Rikers Island, and some subway lines were disrupted.[7] It was dubbed "Astoria Borealis" by residents and the news media.[5]

While the substation was equipped with systems that should have stopped the accident immediately, it took four minutes to cut the flow of electricity. Due to the "apocalyptic" appearance of the aerial lights, some believed they were caused by an alien invasion or nuclear war.[6]

Aftermath

On January 8, New York City Councilmember Costa Constantinides used the incident as an example of why New York should no longer rely on fossil fuels, when touting a new bill studying the closure of the city's gas-fired power plants.[8] On February 11, 2019, the City Council held a hearing on the causes of the accident. Constantinides remarked that there were both air quality and safety concerns, and that he wanted "hard answers".[6]

See also

References
  1. Chasan, Aliza (2018-12-27). "Night sky over New York turns blue after electrical fault at Queens Con Edison power plant causes 'arc flash'". PIX11. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  2. Daly, Michael (2018-12-28). "The Real Reason the Sky Turned Turquoise in NYC: The glow was generated by burning aluminum when one small bit of decidedly earthly Queens became momentarily hotter than the sun". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  3. Haddad, Patrick (2018-12-31). "Con Ed: New York 'transformer explosion' actually an arc flash". Power Transformer News. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  4. Eustachewich, Lia (2018-12-28). "Rare phenomenon caused the shocking blue glow over NYC's skies". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  5. Chappell, Bill (2018-12-28). "'No Evidence Of Extraterrestrial Activity,' NYPD Says As City Is Bathed In Blue Light". NPR. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  6. CBS New York (2019-02-11). "City Council Questions Con Ed About What Caused 'Astoria Borealis'". CBS News. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  7. CBS New York (2018-12-28). "'Astoria Borealis' Dazzles Bright Blue Night Sky After Electrical Explosion". CBS News. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  8. O'Connell-Domenech, Alejandra (2019-01-09). "After 'Astoria Borealis,' Queens lawmaker touts new bill to study elimination of gas-powered electric plants". QNS. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
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