XIII. On the height of the Aurora borealis above the surface of the earth; particularly one seen on the 29th of March, 1826

• Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 1828
• Subjects: aurora borealis
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstl.1828.0015; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstl.1828.0015

Apprethending that the Royal Society will favourably receive accounts that have a direct tendency to determine the height of that interesting phenomenon, the Aurora borealis, I have been induced to transmit some observations that were made upon a very remarkable one, which appeared in the evening of the 29th of March, 1826. From some recent observations, an opinion seems to be entertained by some writers, that the aurora is not so high as has generally been estimated; but it is only from facts and observations such as the following, I conceive, that any near approximation to the true height can be obtained. The aurora borealis above mentioned, was of a kind very rarely occurring. It assumed the appearance of a rainbow-like arch, stretching across the midheaven, at right angles to the magnetic meridian. It was subject to very little change of position for an hour or more, and therefore afforded time to observe the angle of its elevation above the horizon. In the period of five years observations at Kendal formerly, above one hundred appearances of the aurora occurred to me, and only one of the kind just described. I had not an opportunity of seeing the one which is the subject of this paper, but it was seen here (at Manchester) by a friend of mine about 9 o’clock on his returning home from a visit to me. He did not indeed observe the luminous arch, either from its having vanished, or from the obscurity of our atmosphere; but he remarked some beams or corruscations in the north-western hemisphere, of a low altitude; and not having seen an aurora for a long time, he induced the family at home to go out and catch a glimpse of the phænomenon, now much more rarely seen than formerly.