AURORA AUSTRALIS • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Aurora australis

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noun

Aurora n. (pl. E. auroras, L. rarely used aurorae)

1.

The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises.

2.

The rise, dawn, or beginning.

3.

(Class. Myth.) The Roman personification of the dawn of day; the goddess of the morning. The poets represented her a rising out of the ocean, in a chariot, with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew.

4.

(Bot.) A species of crowfoot.

5.

The aurora borealis or aurora australis (northern or southern lights).

Aurora borealis, i. e., northern daybreak; popularly called northern lights. A luminous meteoric phenomenon, visible only at night, and supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or bank, a few degrees above the northern horizon; when reaching south beyond the zenith, it forms what is called the corona, about a spot in the heavens toward which the dipping needle points. Occasionally the aurora appears as an arch of light across the heavens from east to west. Sometimes it assumes a wavy appearance, and the streams of light are then called merry dancers. They assume a variety of colors, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood color. The

Aurora australis is a corresponding phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, the streams of light ascending in the same manner from near the southern horizon.

See images of 'Aurora australis'

Etymology of 'Aurora australis'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Aurora australis" Quotes from Famous Books

... zodiacal light; anthelion^; day star, morning star; Lucifer; mock sun, parhelion; phosphor, phosphorus; sun dog^; Venus. aurora, polar lights; northern lights, aurora borealis; southern lights, aurora australis. lightning; chain lightning, fork lightning, sheet lightning, summer lightning; ball lightning, kugelblitz [G.]; [chemical substances giving off light without burning] phosphorus, yellow phosphorus; scintillator, phosphor; firefly ...

— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget

... end of May, daylight lasted from 9 A.M. until 3 P.M., and the sunrise and sunset were a marvel of exquisite colour. The nightly displays of aurora australis were not very brilliant as the ...

— The Home of the Blizzard • Douglas Mawson

... in the northern heavens in the northern hemisphere, where it is the Aurora Borealis, and seen in the southern heavens in the southern hemisphere, where it is called Aurora Australis, or indifferently for either, the Aurora Polaris. It takes the form of pale luminous bands, rays and curtains varying in color. Near the poles they are very numerous. A French commission observed 150 auroras in 200 days. Their height is variously estimated at ...

— The Standard Electrical Dictionary - A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice - of Electrical Engineering • T. O'Conor Slone

... -72deg. F. with a wind of thirteen miles an hour. The mean temperature for the year was -15deg. F. We expected blizzard after blizzard, but had only two moderate storms. We made many excellent observations of the aurora australis in all parts of the heavens. Our bill of health was the best possible throughout the whole winter. When the sun returned on August 24 it shone upon men who were healthy in mind and body, and ready to begin the task that lay ...

— The South Pole, Volumes 1 and 2 • Roald Amundsen

... the westward purge the air. These are almost invariably attended with a hard clear sky. The easterly winds, by setting in from the sea, bring thick weather and rain, except in summer, when they become regular sea-breezes. The 'aurora australis' is sometimes seen, but is ...

— A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson • Watkin Tench

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