Search

the aurora of the Northern Hemisphere.
Historical Examples

On the whole there has been much less of the aurora borealis lately than at the beginning of our drift.
Farthest North Fridtjof Nansen

I have it: it’s the aurora borealis; nothing worse, nor more dangerous.
Left on Labrador Charles Asbury Stephens

The aurora borealis painted palpitating color revels on the sky.
The God of His Fathers Jack London

It was the zodiacal light, an aurora borealis on a scale inconceivable!
The Black Star Passes John W Campbell

The month of October this year , seems to have been remarkable for displays of the aurora borealis.
Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville Mary Somerville

Ships will cross the polar seas, thawed beneath the aurora borealis.
Bouvard and Pcuchet Gustave Flaubert

The phenomenon which is commonly called aurora borealis, is in high latitudes frequently seen to the south.
The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851 Various

The aurora borealis there is seen in all its native beauty and grandeur.
The Arctic Whaleman Lewis Holmes

She stood on the balcony and shone as the aurora borealis shines.
A Christmas Greeting Hans Christian Andersen

There was a roar of mighty laughter from the aurora borealis.
Punch’s Almanack for 1890 Various

noun
(sometimes capital) the aurora seen around the North Pole Also called northern lights
adjective

See borealis
n.

1620s, “Northern Lights,” literally “northern dawn,” said to have been coined by French philosopher Petrus Gassendus (1592-1655) after a spectacular display seen in France Sept. 2, 1621; see aurora + boreal. In northern Scotland and among sailors, sometimes called the dancers or the merry dancers.
aurora borealis [(uh-rawr-uh bawr-ee-al-is)]

A display of colored lights in the sky, also called northern lights, caused by the interaction of particles from the sun with the upper atmosphere near the North Pole. A similar display, called the aurora australis, occurs in the atmosphere above the South Pole.