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The Great Aurora of 4 February 1872 observed by Angelo Secchi in Rome

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Papers from SWICo members

Francesco Berrilli, Luca Giovannelli

On February 4, 1872, exactly 150 years ago, a great aurora was observed over a vast extent of the Earth. The aurora was also observed in Rome. In a pioneering work by Angelo Secchi, then director of the Observatory of the Roman College, there is the description of the multi-instrument observations carried out in Rome. An avant-garde work that describes what today we call an extreme event of Space Weather, an event with consequences on technological infrastructures on a planetary scale.

Artistic impression of the aurora over Rome on February 4th 1872

In a recent paper, we describe the main results of the observations and studies carried out by Angelo Secchi at the Observatory of the Roman College and described in his “Memoria sull’Aurora Elettrica del 4 Febbraio 1872” for the Notes of the Pontifical Academy of new Lincei.

Publication: Berrilli F., Giovannelli L., 2021, Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate, vol. 12. https://www.swsc-journal.org/articles/swsc/full_html/2022/01/swsc210083/swsc210083.html