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

This new book addresses 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. This is the first serious book about aurora written for practical but non-professional observers. It 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 given on these, and how to anticipate auroral activity.

This offers an explanation of the aurora's causes, how the occurrence of major auroral events may now be predicted, and how amateur observers can record displays. This is the first serious book about aurora written for practical but non-professional observers.

For the majority of amateur astronomers, who live at the latitudes of North America, the British Isles and Australia, the aurora is a relatively infrequent visitor to the night sky. Major displays visible to the southern United States or the south of England occur perhaps 20 times in each 11-year sunspot cycle. When they occur, such auroral storms 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 angle. This new book addresses 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.

Observation of the more frequent displays seen at higher latitudes (the northern US, Canada, and Scotland, for example) are also covered in detail. Visual and photographic (chemical and digital) observations are most usual, but malĂ$