AURORA AUSTRALIS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23068, 20 June 1938, Page 12

AURORA AUSTRALIS

DISPLAY SEEN IN AUCKLAND » RAYS LIKE SEARCHLIGHTS The fourth bright auroral display to bo seen in Auckland this year, and tho second within a fortnight, occurred on Saturday night, when, in spite of strong moonlight, a particularly hril" liant rayed aurora was visible for a short period. The aurora was first noticed at 11.30 p.m., when four lortg rays like those of searchlights appeared to radiate from a point in tho southern sky some ten degrees above tho horizon. The colour, shape and size of the rays heightened this deception, and it was not until tho rays were found to bo all moving with a slow easterly motion across tho sky that tho illusion of terrestrial origin was banished. A bank of clouds moving up swiftly from tho northern sky at 11.50 p.m. hid tho auroral streamers while they wero at their maximum intensity. Previous displays havo been witnessed on January 22, April 16 and Juno 7 this year, but further south a great many more have been reported. The greatly increased frequency of tho aurorao gonerally and tho particularly vivid displays that have occurred recently can be attributed to tho fact that the sun is at present passing through the maximum phase of its activity, with consequent repercussions upon the earth's electrical and magnetic phenomena.