Related papers: Aurorae in Australian Aboriginal Traditions
The Australian National Curriculum promotes Indigenous culture in school education programs. To foster a broader appreciation of cultural astronomy, to utilise the unique astronomical heritage of the site, and to develop an educational…
The organization of the orbits of most minor bodies in the Solar system seems to follow random patterns, the result of billions of years of chaotic dynamical evolution. Much as heterogeneous orbital behaviour is ubiquitous, dynamically…
Northern auroral regions of Earth were imaged with energetic photons in the 0.1-10 keV range using the High-Resolution Camera (HRC-I) aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory at 10 epochs (each ~20 min duration) between mid-December 2003 and…
We explore what may be learned by close encounters between extrasolar minor bodies like `Oumuamua and the Sun. These encounters may yield strong constraints on the bulk composition and possible origin of `Oumuamua-like objects. We find that…
Recent data indicate one or more moderately nearby supernovae in the early Pleistocene, with additional events likely in the Miocene. This has motivated more detailed computations, using new information about the nature of supernovae and…
All planets and satellites of our solar system are subject to a continuous rain of material, ranging in size from specks of dust to objects the size of boulders. Upon impact, these objects deposit their kinetic energy into the incident…
Indications are presented for a significant connection between the relative motion of the planets and the appearance of energetic solar flares. Based on the records of the last four decades, the analysis highlights remarkable features and a…
Meteor showers on the Earth occur at well known times, and are associated with the decay of comets or other minor bodies whose orbital paths pass close to the Earth's trajectory. On the surface, determining the closest proximity of two…
In the present-day context, small satellites and their constellations consisting of varying sizes (nano, micro, pico satellites) are being favored for remote sensing and in situ probing of the heliosphere and terrestrial…
A comet-like, but magnitudes smaller, extremely low albedo interstellar meteoroid population of fragile aggregates with solar type composition, measured in space and terrestrially, is most probably the universal dark matter. Although…
We report both decreasing and increasing trends in the patch sizes during pulsating aurora events. About 150 pulsating auroral events over the Fennoscandian Lapland have been successfully analyzed for their average patch size, total patch…
Auroras can be regarded as the most fascinating manifestation of space weather and they are continuously observed by ground-based and, nowadays more and more, also by space-based measurements. Investigations of auroras and geospace comprise…
Forecasting aurora borealis visibility matters for space weather research and aurora tourism. Visibility at a site and night depends on two distinct factors: (1) whether aurora is physically occurring, driven by solar wind-magnetosphere…
We examine certain features of popular myths regarding ghosts, vampires and zombies as they appear in film and folklore. We use physics to illuminate inconsistencies associated with these myths and to give practical explanation to certain…
Brown dwarfs, which straddle the mass range between stars and planets, appear to be common both in the solar neighborhood and in star-forming regions. Their ubiquity makes the question of their origin an important one both for our…
In Ojibwe the Morning Star is called Ikew Anung, which means the Womens Star. In Lakota the same planet Venus is called Anpetu Luta, the Red Day Star. Bother cultures have rich and interesting understandings of Venus that relate to other…
In the last few years, a mysterious new class of astrophysical objects has been uncovered. These are spatially coincident with the nuclei of external galaxies and show X-ray variations that repeat on timescales of minutes to a month. They…
Different ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) auroral features have been observed at Jupiter and Saturn. Using models related to UV and IR auroral emissions, we estimate the characteristic time scales for the emissions, and evaluate whether…
Possible connections between the physical properties of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA) and their orbital evolution were explored, with emphasis on binary asteroids. Our main starting hypothesis, suggested from the observations, was that the NEA…
We examine the historical development of astrophysical science in Antarctica from the early 20th century until today. We find three temporally overlapping eras, each having a rather distinct beginning. These are the astrogeological era of…