Aurora: Observing and Recording Nature's Spectacular Light Show - Paperback

by Neil Bone (Author)

When auroral storms occur they are a source of great interest and excitement. A number of books highlighting the impact of auroral-geomagnetic storms on communications and satellite technology have appeared in recent years. None, however, has addressed the observational aspect of aurora. This new book fills a gap in the literature, offering an explanation of the aurora's causes, how the occurrence of major events may now be predicted, and how amateur observers can go about recording displays. It is the first serious book about aurora written for practical but non-professional observers. The book provides a concise accessible description of the various auroral forms and how to record them, illustrated with color images of recent displays. It contains details of 'Space Weather' forecasting websites, how to interpret and use the information they offer, and how to anticipate auroral activity.

Back Jacket

The uniquely beautiful light display of an aurora is the result of charged particles colliding with tenuous atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen, more than 60 miles above the Earth, when the magnetosphere is disturbed by changes in the solar wind.

Often - and incorrectly - regarded as being confined to high northern and southern latitudes, major auroral displays are visible from even the southern USA and the south of England, and occur perhaps twenty times in each eleven-year sunspot cycle.

Major auroral storms always cause great interest and excitement in the media, and of course provide practical astronomers with the opportunity to study and image them.

This book describes the aurora from the amateur observational viewpoint, discusses professional studies of auroral and geomagnetic phenomena to put amateur work in context, and explains how practical observers can go about observing and recording auroral displays.

Author Biography

Neil Bone is the author of Deep Sky Observer's Guide, Philip's/Firefly (2004); Mars Observer's Guide, Philip's/Firefly (2003); Guide to the Constellations, Astronomy Now/Polestar (2002); Observing Meteors, Comets, Supernovae and other Transient Phenomena, Springer (1998); Observer's Handbook: Meteors Philip's/Sky (1993); The Aurora: Sun-Earth Interactions, Ellis Horwood (1991), Second Edition Wiley/Praxis (1996), as well as numerous articles and papers.