The Aurora of February 4

Abstract

NOT wishing to trouble you with a long description of the aurora observed by so many on the evening of the 4th, I will confine myself to a few remarks. The spectrum of the brighter portions, viewed through a five-prism direct instrument, consisted generally of the four lines mentioned by Captain Maclear; but when the spectroscope was turned towards the brightest of the curved streamers forming that splendid red and pink star, which so suddenly burst forth at 7.25, some degrees south of the zenith, the relative intensity of the lines was completely changed, the red line becoming more strongly marked even than the green.