Abstract
MAY not this be an auroral phenomenon, at times, at least, and hence the differences of opinion as to its nature? Reading Wilkes's “Narrative of the U.S. Expedition,” I find the following:—“On the 7th February (1840) the weather had become less boisterous, and having reached latitude 49° S., longitude 155°.23 E., the aurora Australis again appeared. It was first seen in the north, and gradually spread its coruscations over the whole heavens; the rays and beams of light radiating from nearly all points of the horizon to the zenith, when their distinctive outlines were lost in a bright glow of light, which was encircled by successive flashes, resembling those of heat lightning on a summer's night. These formed a luminous arc in the southern sky, about 20° in altitude, from the upper part of which rays were continually flashing towards the zenith. Light showers of rain finally shut it out from view.”
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PRATT, F. Sheet Lightning. Nature 28, 104 (1883). https://doi.org/10.1038/028104a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/028104a0
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