OBSERVATIONS ON THE AURORA BOREALIS.
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clouds presently clearing away, these two conspicuous stars were afterwards noticedto be within the limits of the auroral beams. Before ten o’clock, the sky had becomepretty clear, and the stars shone in every part of the visible heavens. I did notobserve any meteoric stars. W. S.
7. Manchester, October lbth, 1840.—An Aurora Borealis of considerable magnitudeand brilliancy, but attended with no peculiarity, was seen here from seven till eleveno’clock last night. It consisted principally of a strong steady light in the northernheavens, with the usual black, foggy nucleus below; and of many fine streamers,which were displayed at different times during its appearance. The colours of bothstreamers and of the stationary light was of a misty white colour.
W. S.
8. Manchester, December 22nd, 1840.—A very brilliant Aurora Borealis was seen in
Manchester on the evenings of Sunday and Monday last. I happened to see thisphenomenon last night, about ten o’clock. It was then very bright, with an immensequantity of diffused white streamers. This, I understand, was the general appearanceof the Aurora on the preceding evening. The wind was very light and easterly, witha gentle frost. The Aurora Borealis was seen here several times in January last; onone occasion the upward waves of light were very grand. W. S.
9. Manchester, April bth, 1843.—Yesterday the sky was completely covered with onesheet of dense cloud during the fore part of the day, and a smart north-west wind pre-vailed till nearly the evening. In the afternoon the lower stratum of cloud clearedaway, and fine groups of well-defined clouds were seen floating in a higher region ofthe air. Towards sunset every vestige of cloud had disappeared, and the wind sub-sided to a mere zephyr.
As the sun disappeared below the western horizon, I observed an arched band ofpale light in the northern heavens, having its extremities resting on the horizon, andits apex, or highest point, nearly, if not exactly, beneath the pole star. As the eve-ning darkened, the luminous band showed itself to be an Aurora Borealis, of animmense magnitude, both in breadth and in the span of its arch ; and had not themoon’s light interfered, the phenomenon would have been splendid indeed. Andalthough the moon, then six days old, shone with great brilliancy, and was situatednot far above the western boundary, the Aurora was remarkably perfect from one endof its arch to the other ; which, at eight o’clock, reached (as nearly as I could esti-mate) from between 10° and 20° of Pisces, on the west, to about the same distancewithin Ophiucus, on the east. Its greatest altitude, at that hour, was about the sameas that of the star Deneb, in the tail of the Swan, but somewhat eastward of it. It
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