Auroræ

Abstract

AFTER a long and remarkable absence of aurora, which, from a letter in your columns of February 19 (p. 360) does not appear to have been confined to these more southerly latitudes, we were favoured last evening with a beautiful, though somewhat transient display. It was about 9.25 p.m. when I first noticed a long band or belt of light above the northern horizon. At first it was ill-defined, with little change of position, but in about twenty minutes it became more luminous and the characteristic streamers suddenly made their appearance, shooting upwards, sometimes from above, sometimes from below the belt of light, which for a few seconds changed into a double arch. Some of these streamers rose as distinct columns, showing the usual prismatic hues, one in particular being noticeable as traversing the inverted W of Cassiopeia, another forming a fan-like terminus to the luminous region, but all confined to a low altitude, bounded on the north-west by Perseus, and on the north-east by Vega, then rising. It may be well to observe that on the same day (the 15th) a large sun-spot had just reached the central meridian, and was beginning to show signs of great disturbance.