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The third paragraph reads, 'The oldest known written record of the aurora was in a Chinese legend written around 2600 BC. On an autumn around 2000 BC[79], according to a legend'. There are two issues with this I'm not 100% on. For one, how would a 2600 BCE author know about events in around 2000 BCE. For another, the cited reference (79) does not include the 2000 BCE date, only 2600. If this could be cleared up, that'd be awesome. All the best, Caskade720 (talk) 02:33, 27 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The claim that sunlight striking the particles trapped by the inversion causes a noise is nonsense, this would happen at dawn, not during the night when aurora noise is claimed to be heard. How these particles from 100km to 1000km in altitude make it down to 70m. A low level temperature inversion reflects sound, so noises heard may have a source 20km away.
The first reference requires giving your info to view article, second reference is no longer avail on site. 2001:56A:F9C9:1900:44D6:B0C6:2D4E:E34E (talk) 22:50, 28 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Could there be a bit clearer summary for amateurs?[edit]
I went to this article to confirm that auroras are indeed solar wind particles hitting upper atmosphere particles, exciting them and emitting energy in the form of light. However, it's really hard to find this information in the article, it's quite obfuscated. There is various talk of "disturbances in the magnetosphere" and "particles altering trajectories" and "interaction of solar wind and magnetosphere". I mean, I am sure it's all scientifically correct, but isn't the basic fact of particles hitting particles a bit more understandable to the average reader? I guess it requires a brave person to make such an edit. Jackissimus (talk) 09:25, 21 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
"The earliest depiction of the aurora may have been in Cro-Magnon cave paintings of northern Spain dating to 30,000 BC."
Is there a real source for this instead of The Times' "20 surprising facts you might not know about the northern lights" ? I couldn't find anything myself except maybe a scientific ebook stuck behind a paywall. Anyway right now it doesn't seem very trustworthy Absobel (talk) 06:50, 18 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Absobel. I have access to the ebook. From page 12: Some of the drawings made by the Cro-Magnon people on the walls and ceilings of caves in southern France most probably depict the northern lights. These drawings date back 30,000 years. It is not mentioned whether these are the earliest depictions, however.
I have found the full claim repeated in two other books, 1, 2. Both cite Siscoe 1976, which does not appear to be available online. For now, I think it will be sufficient to cite 1, but it would be great if another editor could check Siscoe's paper to verify. CoronalMassAffection 𝛿 talkcontribs 18:23, 18 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]