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There existed a tradition of mimetic experimentation in the late nineteenth century, whereby morphologists sought to scale down sublime natural phenomena to tabletop devices in the laboratory. Experimenters constructed analogs of the aurora, attempting to replicate the colors and forms of the phenomenon with discharge tube experiments and electrical displays, which became popular spectacles at London's public galleries. This paper analyses a closely allied but different kind of imitation. Between 1872 and 1884, Professor Karl Selim Lemström (1838–1904) attempted to reproduce the aurora borealis in all of its complexity atop four mountains in northern Finland. Crucially, his "artificial aurora" was to materialize at the same scale as the original phenomenon and in its natural habitat in the polar atmosphere. With his experiment Lemström hoped to uncover the workings of the aurora and the electrical currents that he believed were always present within the atmosphere; his epistemological framework was one of learning by making. This paper sheds light on the broader problem of what it meant to authentically replicate a phenomenon that remained largely enigmatic, and, most importantly, how this replication could be verified. This prompts a discussion as to whether model experiments needed only to appear visually similar to the objects they purported to imitate, were required to preserve their form, or needed to be materially identical in order to the original to be identified as legitimate "reproductions" in the late nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large geomagnetic disturbances are fairly rare events, even near the top of the solar cycle. These are mostly caused by particle radiation from the Sun. The flow of these particles is called solar wind. The terrestrial magnetosphere and ionosphere create magneto-hydro-dynamic waves that produce an increase in the magnetic field on the Earth's surface. The recording of the geomagnetic field is carried out in geomagnetic observatories and with the help of satellites. Magnetic observatories are permanent measuring stations that monitor geomagnetic field variations with very high precision both in time and in amplitude. Several calculation methods were used to quantify these variations, resulting in various indices of magnetic activity. They are calculated either at the planetary level or for specific areas on Earth (equatorial indices (Ae), daily indices (Ap), planetary indices (Kp), geomagnetic activity index (Dst)). In the present work, the geomagnetic storm produced on March 24, 2024 was analysed. There are situations where the different way of reporting the geomagnetic indices (Dst and Kp) can lead to the classification of the same phenomenon in two different categories (average storm after Dst and strong storm after Kp). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aurora borealis research carried out by China and Japan in the Arctic state of Iceland has been received very differently both in Iceland and abroad. While the Japanese research has gone almost unnoticed for decades, the Chinese research has been received with much scepticism and negative media coverage, including talk of a possible security threat. This paper presents a comparative study which explores the history of the two research projects, as well as their execution and reception. Through the lens of the aurora research, the paper also explores the broader implications of Arctic and science diplomacy on bilateral relations between Iceland and the two Asian powerhouses. As the aurora research in Iceland has so far received limited academic attention outside the natural sciences, the paper is largely based on primary research, including thirteen in-depth interviews with key individuals closely connected to the projects. The paper demonstrates the different reception of the two projects in Iceland and discusses both organisational issues, such as differences in scale and capacity, and underlying factors related to international politics. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that the Japanese case is a purely science-focused collaboration devoid of science diplomacy, while in the Chinese case, science has been used as a tool to facilitate more strategic diplomatic goals – most importantly the bilateral Free Trade Agreement between China and Iceland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the influence of conventions set by The Photographic Atlas of Auroral Forms, published by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (1930), on protocols employed at Arctic stations researching the aurora borealis during the Second International Polar Year (1932-1933). The atlas was created by a committee led by Professor Carl Størmer, the leading auroral scientist of the early twentieth century. It categorized auroral forms, established codes for viewing the phenomenon through the camera lens, and provided a multitude of carefully selected photographs to direct the reader. Responding to a call for greater emphasis on verticality in studies of twentieth-century atmospheric science, this paper addresses the vertical dimension as both a consideration in the process of visually documenting the fleeting and intangible forms of the aurora as well as a subject of study in its own right, in relation to altitude measurements of the phenomenon. With a focus on the specific instrumentation used, light is shed on the difficulties of calibration across polar stations, bodily comportments involved in viewing aurorae, and properties of the northern lights revealed through temporal distance from the display. In seeking to answer the methodological question of whether atlases reflect the reality of scientific practices, I analyze how The Atlas of Auroral Forms affected observational routines among Norwegian, British, Canadian, American, and Dutch polar year groups. Emphasis is placed on instances of divergence from its guidance to demonstrate that research practices do not always follow inexorably from an instructive text, even given the most favorable of conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses heightened interest in the potential audibility of the aurora borealis during the First and Second International PolarYears (IPYs) of 1882-3and1932-3.Galvanized bya growing volume of local accounts expressing belief in the elusive noises, written by the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands, northern Canada, andNorway, auroral researchers of each erawere determined to establish the objectivity of auroral sound. There was considerable speculation within the auroral research community as to whether the apparent noises were imagined or illusory, connected to discussions about the possibility of low-altitude aurorae. The anglophone auroral sound debate primarily played out within the official reports of IPY expeditions, the journal Nature, and a Shetland Island newspaper. I argue that the embodied senses were used exclusively to register the liminal sounds of the aurora across the two periods, despite developments in sound recording technologies, the primacy of mechanical objectivity, and instruments transported to the polar regions for the investigation of visual features of the phenomenon. This overlooked episode complicates narratives of polar science in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by revealing a faith in the corporeal senses and the significant role of amateur observers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is believed that the high activity of sun with eruptions causing instability of the magnetic field of the Earth cause various health problems in sensitive people, including such events as heart attack. We analysed the daily frequency of patients admitted with heart attack to the Cardiocentre of the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine in relation to daily mean value of the geomagnetic Ap index representing fluctuations in the magnetic field. There were slightly more days with both low Ap and low number of patients than expected by random, and slightly more days with both high Ap and number of patients. However, very high magnetic activity (Ap>30) did not cause high rate of heart attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]