Dr.
Robert Agnew (shown above sitting atop an ancient Mayan observatory in Mexico)
is a Professor of
Music and Humanities at Edison State College in Piqua,
Ohio.
Born in Youngstown,
Ohio,
Robert has a
Masters Degree from Bowling
Green
State
University
and a Ph.D. from Michigan
State
University.
Of
Magnets and the Sun
For
those
that have observed the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights) or the
Aurora
Australis (the Southern Lights), the night sky is never the same.
My
experience with this remarkable phenomenon came on May 5,
2005. I went
out with a large reflector
telescope about 3:00 AM to
observe a few planetary nebulae. The night was
crystal clear but quite cold. After an hour of observation, I noticed a
cloudy
light coming from the northeast. I thought it was, perhaps, some sort
of
floodlight, and I was not too happy.
It
looked
like a light green cloud with light streamers moving through it.
Observing a
planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus, the light-cloud began to
interfere with my view - and then it hit me - this light cloud now
covered 60%
of the sky and looked like a massive curtain of light emanating from
the north
- the Aurora Borealis.
I
woke my
wife up to see this wondrous, beautiful phenomenon. I walked to a field
across
the street to look directly north - just awesome There it was, bright
and
glorious. Among the most fascinating aspects of the Northern Lights
were the
huge, curtain-like light folds that moved across the sky from a point
north,
expanding in size and diminishing in luminosity as they moved south.
The
auroras
are brought to life by Earth’s magnetic poles and their
effect on charged
particles produced by solar activity. The particles consist chiefly of
ionized
oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the upper atmosphere. Different gasses
produce
different colors. This plain scientific fact does not get in the way of
the
sheer aesthetic beauty of the Aurorae, any more than does the
scientific
description of a rainbow interfere with our enjoyment of its beauty.
Though
it
is uncommon for auroras to extend beyond the 40th latitude they have,
during
periods of high solar activity, reached all the way to the tropics.
Since
the
Aurorae have been in existence for millennia, it is not surprising that
many
myths have grown around them in far northern and far southern cultures.
To
one
Eskimo tribe the Northern Lights were a series of fires lit by the
dwellers of
the sky to show the way for departed spirits to enter the heavenly
domain.
To
the
Vikings, the Northern lights were reflections from the shields of the
Valkyries. These godly maidens, including the formidable and beautiful
Brunhilde, gathered fallen warriors from battle to take them to the
abode of
the gods: Valhalla. The
Valkyries were the hope of
every dying soldier, and when the heavens lit up, they knew the
Valkyries were
there to guide their souls.
An
extraordinary legend of the Lakota Sioux sees the Northern Lights as
the
glowing spirits of as yet unborn children. This beautiful sign of the
heavens
provided hope for the future of the tribe.
In the
southern hemisphere, the Mauri of New Zealand saw in the Southern
Lights the
campfires of other tribes, reflected from the heavens.
Of
course,
for every culture that saw the light as beneficent, there were those
that saw
it as evil. For every culture that saw in the lights future days of
peace,
there were those that saw war.
The
weather
turns up a lot in folklore of the Aurorae, not uncommon for northern
and
southern peoples whose lives depended on knowledge of the weather. The
sky
offers many dazzling sights, but few can compare with the
“other world” beauty
of the Aurorae!
©
Article &
image Dr. Robert Agnew, 2009