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Term "Aurora Borealis" First Used
The term "aurora borealis" was coined by French scientist and philosopher Pierre Gassendi (Stern) -
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Aurora Borealis
The aurora borealis, often referred to as “the northern lights”, is an illumination that appears in the sky in the far north. The lights are created by charged particles interacting with Earth’s atmosphere. The charged particles come from magnetic storms created by explosive eruptions from the sun. -
Sir Edmund Halley Proposes The Aurora Borealis Is Caused By Effluvium Escaping From The Earth's Crust
Sir Edmond Halley, the scientist best known for his predicting the returened what is now called Halley's Comet, proposed a model of the Earth that suggested that the crust was fluid and separated from the core by effluvium. He suggested that escaping effluvium caused the aurora borealis (Norton) -
Anders Celsius Connects Aurora Borealis and Earth's Magnetic Field
Anders Celsius, after whom the temperature scale was named, was the first to make a connection between the aurora borealis and Earth's magnetic field ("Anders Celsius") -
First Book Written That Applies Geophysical Data to an Astronomical Problem
Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, the French physicist, wrote a book called Physical and Historical Treatise on the Aurora Borealis. He was the first to apply geophysical data to an astronomical problem (Schlager and Lauer, "Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan") -
John Canton Connects Irregular Compass Needles With Aurora Borealis Activity
The English schoolmaster John Canton, who developed a method for manufacturing artificial magnets, made a connection between irregular activity of compass needle orientation and the occurence of the aurora borealis (Schlager and Lauer). -
Map Of Aurora Borealis Occurences Created
Elias Loomis of Yale University created a map marking when and where the aurora borealis occured in the average year (Stern) -
More Accurate Map Compiled
Herman Fritz created a map more accurate than Loomis's (Stern). -
Birkeland Magnetized Sphere Experiment
Norwegian physicist Kristian Birkeland showed that electrons are attracted to magnetic poles byplacing a magnitized sphere called a terrella inside a vacuum chamber. When a beam of electrons was aimed towards the sphere, the electrons were steered by the magnetic field towards the poles. -
Auroral Electrons Observed By Rocket Detectors
In a rocket expedition, the team of Meredith, Gottlieb, and Van Allen from the University of Iowa observed auroral electron activity through detectors (Stern). -
Eugene Norman Parker Identifies Solar Wind
American astronomer Eugene Parker was the first to recognize solar wind as made of hydrogen, helium, and oter particles emitted from the sun (Stern). -
Auroral Electron Data Used To Finsd Corresponding Energy Values
Carl McIlwain used a 1959 rocket experiment to discover that aurora electrons of an average energy have an acceleration of 6000 volts (Stern). -
Scientists Capture Aurora Borealis In 3D
Scientists from the United States and Japan teamed up to capture the aurora borealis with SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras located five miles apart, one mimicking the right eye, and the other the left. These images will be used to portray the aurora in 3D
