Anne-- Thanks for your reply.
On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 4:26 AM, Bruvold Anne < anne.bruv...@nordnorsk.vitensenter.no> wrote: > Just a comment from the far north on Dawn and Aurora: > Aurora is the name of the light at dawn. > Yes, an edition of the Houghton Mifflin Dictionary gives these definitions of "Aurora": 1. The Roman goddess of the dawn 2. The dawn 3. a) Aurora Borealis b) Aurora Australis ...except that, in Roman and medieval times, "Aurora" didn't refer to the dawn (the full arrival of Civil Twilight) itself, but to the _beginning_ of the arrival of dawn. That's an important distinction. My definition, above, is one that I've only found in one source: A library book about time-reckoning throughout history. But its author evidently researched, in detail, the several Roman/medieval words for significant times during the morning. Though I only know of that one source that supports my definition, it's the only source I've encountered that treats the subject in detail at all. An edition of Merriam-Webster gives the same definitions, except, in different order: 1. Dawn 2. The Roman goddess of dawn 3. Aurora Borealis or Australis. > The full name of green flaming bands visible at night in the far north and > south is Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis. The name Aurora Borealis was > given because the light as sees from middle Europe it resembles dawn, but > was not dawn. Hence it got the addition Borealis. As the same phenomenon > later was observed in the far south, the southern version got the addition > Australis. > Yes. > > Today the single word "Aurora" is no longer commonly used for the light at > dawn, and is more often associated with the light phenomenon in the upper > atmosphere. > Yes, I concede that nowadays "Aurora" is never, or nearly never, used with its original meaning--the beginning of the arrival of dawn. ...and that it's always, or nearly always, used to refer to the upper-atmosphere phenomenon of the far north and the far south. I've never seen the Aurora Borealis, and I know that I've thereby been missing something impressive. Though I use the word "Aurora" with its original ancient meaning that's practically unknown nowadays, it's the only word I know of, for that time of morning--the beginning of the arrival of dawn. I just don't know of any other word for it. It's something that people were more familiar with long ago, when rising earlier, living closer to nature's time, without any streetlights. I envy people who live in Australia or Norway, and I don't mind admitting that I'd quickly trade places. Here in Florida, though not technically the tropics, it's tropical in a number of ways: At summer-solstice noon, the sun is so nearly straight up that a person can't really tell that it isn't. You can't find your shadow unless you look straight down. In the summer, we're in the Trade Winds, the tropical easterlies. I must say that I like the intense sunshine and the warm "winter" temperature here, but the ultraviolet poses a skin-cancer risk. My ancestors came from Northern Europe (Britain and Russia), and so I'm not really designed for this latitude. All sorts of insects and lizards everywhere. I've seen 5 alligators during my 9 years in Florida. Climate-wise, I like Florida, but I'd trade places because I've heard only good things about Australia and Scandinavia. Michael Ossipoff 26N, 80W > > ----- Reply message ----- > Fra: "John Pickard" <john.pick...@bigpond.com> > Til: "sundial@uni-koeln.de" <sundial@uni-koeln.de> > Emne: Aurora, the beginning of the arrival of Dawn > Dato: tor., juni 11, 2015 01:30 > > > > > Hi Michael, > > You are making life far too complicated by worrying about which definition > of sunrise to use for your assignation. > > Here in Australia, if you are invited by a young (or older) woman to view > a sunrise from a beach, the only questions to be asked are “how much food > and beer / wine do I bring?” and “are you bringing the picnic rug?” > > But we are now in grip of winter in Sydney, and only the truly brave (or > those well fortified by alcohol anti-freeze) would venture to the beach in > the vain hope of glimpsing the dawn through the clouds. > > I’m not too sure about using “aurora” in the context of dawn. I spent many > hours lying in the snow in winter (~ –30C) in Antarctica looking up at > auroras, and it’s something I’ve never forgotten. Whether rippling sheets > of light, or shooting beams, they were pure magic. Far, far better than any > sunrise. > > Cheers, John > > John Pickard > john.pick...@bigpond.com > > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > > >
--------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
