Aurora Borealis(1865) by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900)
“This beautiful phenomenon has never been seen in European countries to the southward of London; at least not in modern times; and yet when we reflect upon the phenomena in early times, to which superstition affixed the appellation of showers of fire, fiery swords, etc., even as far south as Jerusalem, it is scarcely possible to doubt that they have been seen farther south than they appear at present.
In Scotland, the Aurora Borealis was unknown previous to the commencement of the eighteenth century, when the Northern Lights were supposed to be prophetic of the intestine troubles that followed the Hanoverian succession. The same superstition prevails in the northern parts of England, where it is confidently asserted that they never were seen until the execution of the Earl of Derwentwater in 1715, with which event it is not doubted but they were in some degree connected.
A living traveler relates a curious fact connected with their appearance in the southern states of North America, which shows with what avidity the imagination raises a superstition on natural phenomena. “In the autumn of 1789,” he says, “I was at Norfolk in Virginia, where a frequent subject of tea table gossip was a prophecy, printed in New England, stating that the world was to be destroyed by fire, on a specific day in November in that year; a prophecy which, absurd as it was, actually made a deep impression even on those who professed to laugh at it.
It happened on this very day that I crossed Elizabeth River, and stopped in Portsmouth to spend the evening at a house where there was a large party of both sexes. There the prophecy became the subject of conversation; and the day being nearly past, the whole party were speedily becoming most courageous philosophers. All at once, our ears were assailed by loud murmurs outside. We rushed to the door, and were much astonished at finding the whole population of the place in the street; the greater part of them on their knees, and uttering the loudest lamentations.
Attracted by the brilliancy of the heavens, I raised my eyes upwards, and observed a very vivid Aurora Borealis casting its coruscations over more than half the hemisphere. On turning around, I saw the whole party on their knees, and evidently in great trepidation.
The scene was certainly awful, yet I could not restrain a burst of laughter; when my friends, with the utmost horror, begged me to desist, and not draw the wrath of offended heaven upon them.
With difficulty I at length persuaded some of them to listen to me, when I assured them that all they saw was a common phenomenon in more northern latitudes. I also endeavored to convince some of the strangers nearest to me that there was no cause for alarm; but I could gain no converts. I succeeded, however, in drawing my own party back into the house, where I was considered something more than human, for relieving their minds from the horrors which assailed them. Towards midnight, the Aurora dispersed, as did the fears of the good people of Portsmouth. On crossing the ferry to Norfolk I found that the same species of alarm had also existed there to a considerable extent, and was as happily extinguished”.
Excerpted from The Percy anecdotes. Collected and edited by Reuben and Sholto Percy. Verbatim reprint of the original ed., with a pref. by John Timbs, Published 1868.
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SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER /NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
“The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) are the result of electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. (Protons cause faint and diffuse aurora, usually not easily visible to the human eye.) The electrons are energized through acceleration processes in the downwind tail (night side) of the magnetosphere and at lower altitudes along auroral field lines. The accelerated electrons follow the magnetic field of Earth down to the Polar Regions where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms and molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere. In these collisions, the electrons transfer their energy to the atmosphere thus exciting the atoms and molecules to higher energy states. When they relax back down to lower energy states, they release their energy in the form of light. This is similar to how a neon light works. The aurora typically forms 80 to 500 km above Earth’s surface.”
More at:
Aurora – The magnificent northern lights
http://proteus.space.noa.gr/~daglis/images/pdf_files/other_pubs/recorder.pdf
Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora
