Athens - Skies lit up over Southern Greece and the islands, giving rise to the rumour that the Aurora Borealis was once again playing in our skies.
But meteorologist, Christos Nikolaidis, of National Observatory of Athens, Institute of Geodynamics, said that while certainly something unusual was going on, he understood the authorities were awaiting confirmation from The Seismological Laboratory, University of Athens, that in fact the display related to a localised hothouse of seismic activity.
Aurora Borealis is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name. for the north wind, Boreas.
Plutarch gave a description of the northern lights in 467 BC but it may have been a quotation from missing writings of Anaxagoras rather than his own observation: "During seventy days there was an enormous and furious figure in the sky. It was like a flaming cloud, which did not stay at its position but moved windingly and regularly, so that the glowing fragments were flying in all directions and fire was blazing as the comets do. Those fragments came loose during rushing and unexpected movements."
The northern lights occurred one to three times per decade on the horizon of ancient Greece. Altogether dozens of reliable observations of the northern lights are known from the years BC.
There are very few references to the northern lights in the Middle Ages in Europe. Every written text is more or less superstitious and often they are embellished with warlike predictions. The northern lights seen on the 3rd of March, 451 were connected to the historic defeat of Attila at Chalons-sur-Marne, in what is now France.
Often, the blood of martyrs flowing up into the sky was seen in the northern lights. Such was the case when Thomas Becket died in 1177.
Some observations of the aurora borealis in Greece found that the appearances of the phenomenon aurora borealis are not exceptionally rare. These appearances coincide with the years of maximum solar activity and especially 1–2 years after it. Except of two appearances of this phenomenon all the others were observed in Spring and Autumn or near these seasons. The most southerly geographical latitude at which at least hints of the aurora borealis have been observed in Greece is the latitude of 35 N.
But meteorologist, Christos Nikolaidis, of National Observatory of Athens, Institute of Geodynamics, said that while certainly something unusual was going on, he understood the authorities were awaiting confirmation from The Seismological Laboratory, University of Athens, that in fact the display related to a localised hothouse of seismic activity.
Aurora Borealis is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name. for the north wind, Boreas.
Plutarch gave a description of the northern lights in 467 BC but it may have been a quotation from missing writings of Anaxagoras rather than his own observation: "During seventy days there was an enormous and furious figure in the sky. It was like a flaming cloud, which did not stay at its position but moved windingly and regularly, so that the glowing fragments were flying in all directions and fire was blazing as the comets do. Those fragments came loose during rushing and unexpected movements."
The northern lights occurred one to three times per decade on the horizon of ancient Greece. Altogether dozens of reliable observations of the northern lights are known from the years BC.
There are very few references to the northern lights in the Middle Ages in Europe. Every written text is more or less superstitious and often they are embellished with warlike predictions. The northern lights seen on the 3rd of March, 451 were connected to the historic defeat of Attila at Chalons-sur-Marne, in what is now France.
Often, the blood of martyrs flowing up into the sky was seen in the northern lights. Such was the case when Thomas Becket died in 1177.
Some observations of the aurora borealis in Greece found that the appearances of the phenomenon aurora borealis are not exceptionally rare. These appearances coincide with the years of maximum solar activity and especially 1–2 years after it. Except of two appearances of this phenomenon all the others were observed in Spring and Autumn or near these seasons. The most southerly geographical latitude at which at least hints of the aurora borealis have been observed in Greece is the latitude of 35 N.
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