THE SKY AFLAME.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 May 1921, Page 4

THE SKY AFLAME.

BRILLIANT AURORA AUSTRALIS,

-SEEN IN NEW PLYMOUTH. i ■ 1 A brilliant display of the Aurora Aus< trails—a luminous meteor of beauty which is seen in the Southern Hemisphere—was visible in New Ply* mouth last night, the weird and fantastic streamers of color filling the aky just after dark, and becoming more vi« vid as the night darkened. The phenomenon made a beautiful and strange spectacle, and was at once the object of amazement and wonder to the uninitiated. A rich crimson -hpe flooding the eky at first gave the impression of the reflection of a huge fire many miles distant, but presently it moved over too wide an area to sustain this theory, and then, as rays of white and blue radiated as from an arc, the impression waa one ’ of a number of Searchlights; playing on a vast reflection. Then streaks of steel grey, yellow, and fiery red divided th»., glare until they combined in a picture of brightly colored streamers sweeping; the sky. The display continued fofl about an hour, gradually losing its variety of tints until it faded away. Scientifically the aurora was the subject of close observation by students of astronomy. Speaking to a Daily Newa reporter last night the Rev. O. Blundell (honorary director of the New |Plymouth Astronomical Society) said occurrences of the kind are in many cases simultaneous with disturbances in the sun in the shape of a sun-spot. Whew the spot gets to the centre meridian (being the closest to the earth) it as likely to set up an auroral display on the earth, by electrons being shot up by the sun and actually radiating to the’ earth. The theory, though not definite, was borne out in some measure by last night’s aurora, as the spot on the sun, which was recently reported by observers, reached the central meridian yesterday. The fact was noticed from the New Plymouth observatory, and therefore to some the appearance of the rays at dusk was not a surprise. The brilliance of the display, however, was remarkable in that it occurred in the first quarter of the moon, which apparently did not detract from the effect of the rays.

The display was at its height about seven o’clock, the rays -having then reached overhead, and it provided one oi the most interesting auroral phenomena for many years. The color spectacle was an inspiring one, the many streamers which appeared across tht southern and western sky were manyhued, and the sky seemed to bear a rapidly changing aspect as the aurora developed and then slowly disappeared. The effects were visible for a long time afterwards, and on occasions again be« came pronounced.