Summary
Mikhail Lomonosov's "On the Aurora Borealis" (1759) argues that the aurora is caused by electrical charges in the upper atmosphere, specifically a flux of "electrical fire" emanating from the sun. He proposed that this phenomenon is a celestial electrical discharge, analogous to lightning. Lomonosov's work was a pioneering attempt to explain the aurora using scientific principles, moving beyond mythological or purely speculative explanations.
This treatise outlines Lomonosov's observations of the aurora and his reasoning for an electrical cause. He discusses how particles, affected by the Earth's magnetic field and atmospheric conditions, could precipitate this light. The book offers a detailed, early scientific model for atmospheric electricity and its visible manifestation, laying groundwork for later meteorological and geophysical studies.
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Key concepts
- Electrical Fire — Lomonosov's term for the electrically charged particles he believed caused the aurora.
- Celestial Electrical Discharge — The process of electrical energy being released in the upper atmosphere, similar to lightning.
- Atmospheric Electricity — The electrical phenomena occurring within Earth's atmosphere.
- Solar Influence — The idea that solar emissions are the source of the electrical charges that cause the aurora.