Editing 1859 in science (section)

==Astronomy==
* August 28–September 2 – The [[solar storm of 1859]], the largest geomagnetic solar storm on record, causes the [[Aurora (astronomy)|Northern lights aurora]] to be visible as far south as Cuba and knocks out [[telegraph]] communication. This is also called the Carrington event, [[Richard Christopher Carrington|Richard Carrington]] being the first known person to observe [[solar flare]]s, due to this storm. It is also the first major solar radiation storm to be recorded.<ref>{{cite book|first=Philip C.|last=Plait|author-link=Phil Plait|title=Death from the Skies! – these are the ways the world will end|location=New York|publisher=Viking Penguin|year=2008|isbn=978-0-670-01997-7|title-link=Death from the Skies}}</ref>
* [[Marian Albertovich Kowalski]] publishes the first usable method to deduce the [[rotation]] of the [[Milky Way]].<ref>''Recherches astronomiques de l'observatoire de Kasan''.</ref>
* English clergyman [[Thomas William Webb]] publishes the first edition of his popular amateur guide ''Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes''.
* Attempting to explain [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]]'s solar orbit, [[French people|French]] mathematician [[Urbain Le Verrier]] proposes the existence of a [[Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|hypothetical planet, Vulcan]], inside its orbit and amateur astronomer [[Edmond Modeste Lescarbault]] claims to have observed it on March 26.<ref>{{cite book|title=In Search of Planet Vulcan, the Ghost in Newton's Clockwork Machine|last1=Baum|first1=Richard|last2=Sheehan|first2=William|year=1997|publisher=Plenum Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-306-45567-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/insearchofplanet0000baum}}</ref>