Elias Loomis - Great Auroral Exhibition of 1859

Great Auroral Exhibition of 1859

In his memoir of Loomis, Hubert Anson Newton summarized Loomis' work on the historical Geomagnetic Storm of 1859.

Closely connected with terrestrial magnetism, and to be considered with it, is the Aurora Borealis. In the week that covered the end of August and the beginning of September, 1859, there occurred an exceedingly brilliant display of the Northern Lights. Believing that an exhaustive discussion of a single aurora promised to do more for the promotion of science than an imperfect study of an indefinite number of them, Professor Loomis undertook at once to collect and to collate accounts of this display. A large number of such accounts were secured from North America, from Europe, from Asia, and from places in the Southern Hemisphere; especially all the reports from the Smithsonian observers and correspondents, were placed in his hands by the Secretary, Professor Henry. These observations and the discussions of them were given to the public during the following two years, in a series of nine papers in the American Journal of Science. Few, if any, displays on record were as remarkable as was this one for brilliancy or for geographical extent. Certainly about no aurora have there been collected so many facts. The display continued for a week. The luminous region entirely encircled the North Pole of the earth. It extended on this continent on the 2d of September as far south, as Cuba, and to an unknown distance to the north. In altitude the bases of the columns of light were about fifty miles above the earth's surface, and the streamers shot up at times to a height of five hundred miles. Thus over a broad belt on both continents this large region above the lower atmosphere was filled with masses of luminous material. A display similar to this, and possibly of equal brilliancy, was at the same time witnessed in the Southern Hemisphere. The nine papers were mainly devoted to the statements of observers. Professor Loomis, however, went on to collect facts about other auroras, and to make inductions from the whole of the material thus brought together. He showed that there was good reason for believing that not only was this display represented by a corresponding one in the Southern Hemisphere, but that all remarkable displays in either hemisphere are accompanied by corresponding ones in the other. He showed also that all the principal phenomena of electricity were developed during the auroral display of 1859; that light was developed in passing from one conductor to another, that heat in poor conductors, that the peculiar electric shock to the animal system, the excitement of magnetism in irons, the deflection of the magnetic needle, the decomposition of chemical solutions, each and all were produced during the auroral storm, and evidently by its agency. There were also in America effects upon the telegraph that were entirely consistent with the assumption previously made by Walker for England, that currents of electricity moved from northeast to southwest across the country. From the observations of the motion of auroral beams, he showed that they also moved from north-northeast to south-southwest, there being thus a general correspondence in motion between the electrical currents and the motion of the beams.

The following are the nine papers published by Professor Loomis pertaining to the Geomagnetic Storm of 1859. Note that none of the original papers are currently online, as the American Journal of Science for these years is only available on microfilm.

The great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September, 1859.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 28, pp. 385–408. November, 1859. The great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September 4, 1859—2nd article.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 29, pp. 92–97. January, 1860. The great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September 4, 1859—3rd article.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 29, pp. 249–266. February, 1860. The great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September 4, 1859—4th article.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 29, pp. 386–399. May, 1860. The great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September 4, 1859, and the geographical distribution of auroras and thunder storms—5th article.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 30, pp. 79–100. July, 1860. The great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September 4, 1859—6th article.
(Selected from the Smithsonian papers.)
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 30, pp. 339–361. November, 1860. The great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September 4, 1859—7th article.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 32, pp. 71–84. May, 1861. On the great auroral exhibition of August 28 to September 4, 1859, and auroras generally—8th article.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 32, pp. 318–335. September, 1861. On electrical currents circulating near the earth's surface and their connection with the phenomena of the aurora polaris—9th article.
Am. Jour. Sci. (2), vol. 34. pp. 34–45. July, 1862.
(On the action of electrical currents and the motion of auroral beams.)

As part of a 2006 review of the Geomagnetic Storm of 1859, M.A. Shea, and D.F. Smart edited a compendium of eight articles published by Elias Loomis in the American Journal of Science from 1859 to 1861. The ninth and final paper was omitted and not referenced. Of the eleven pages in the ninth paper, only half a page deals with the great auroral exhibition of 1859, previously reported by Loomis, while the bulk of the paper deals with auroral events predating 1859.

In the Compendium, for the 5th article in the series, the section on thunderstorms totaling six pages, is omitted with footnotes documenting the removal by the editors. In the citation to the 5th article the page range is given as 79–94, the correct range is 79–100.

The citations for the 3rd and 4th articles gives the page ranges as 249–265 and 386–397; the correct values are 249–266 and 386–399, but the content is complete for both articles in the Compendium.

In a November 21, 1861 paper to the Royal Society Balfour Stewart acknowledged the work of Professor E. Loomis.

It is unnecessary to enter into further particulars regarding this meteor, as the description of it given by observations at places widely apart have been collected together by Professor E. Loomis, and published in a series of papers communicated to the American Journal of Science and Arts. I shall only add that, both from the European, the American, and the Australian accounts, there appear to have been two great displays, each commencing at nearly the same absolute time, throughout the globe, —the first on the evening of the 28th of August, and the second on the early morning of the 2nd of September, Greenwich time.