Unusually Brilliant Display Seen Even in Central Europe An exceptionaly brilliant display of the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, was observed on the night of Jan. 25 in several widely separated parts of England, Scotland, and Wales, It was first noticed at half-regions the display takes the form of a luminous are with pulsating streamers extending to the zenith, or it may occur with wonderful draperies or curtain-shaped effects. It may show all colours from the past six and continued for more than an hour, occasionally dying down and bursting up again, wherever the gathering clouds had not obscured the northern sky. In scme places people mistook it for the reflection of a huge fire.
The unusual spectacle of the Northern Lights was also witnessed in other parts of Europe.
Reuter's correspondent in Vienna reports that there was considerable panic in several small villages in Lower Austria and in some cases the local fire brigade was called out.
In Switzerland, says Reuter Wengen correspondent, the lights illuminated the mountain peaks and palest pink to the deepest purple. In the latitude of Southern England the colours are seldom observed.
it is caused by an intense stream of electrified particles, called electrons, travelling towards the earth with the speed of light. These converge to the earth's magnetic pole in the region of Northern Labrador, and when the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere are encountered they cause the luminous display. The luminous effects mostly occur at a height of about fifty miles. ' Often the most brilliant displays occur when a large sunspot develops such as has been visible in the last few ay brought natives and visitors alike to windows and doors to witness a phenomenon they had never seen before.
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