Early Observation of the a Urora Australis: AD 1640
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WILLIS ET AL.: EARLY AURORAE Early observation of the a urora australis: AD 1640 David M Willis, José M Vaquero and F Richard Stephenson cast a critical eye over evidence of auroral observations in 17th-century Chile. he Chilean Jesuit Juan Ignacio Molina from Hebei and Shandong Provinces (Yau et al. SJ presented evidence for the occurrence 1995). However, de Mairan (1733, 1754 and Tof a large auroral display in 1640, which 1770) appears to have been the first European to was allegedly seen every night in the Araucanía draw proper scientific attention to the probable region of Chile from the beginning of Febru- existence of aurorae in the southern hemisphere. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/50/5/5.20/194482 by guest on 30 September 2021 ary to the end of April. The relevant evidence He based his conclusion on observations made was presented briefly in a book on the natural by the celebrated mariner and scientist Antonio history of Chile published in 1782, almost one- de Ulloa, who witnessed a perceptible illumi- and-a-half centuries after the original obser- nation that resembled the polar lights seen in vation. Our search through the chronicles of the northern hemisphere while rounding Cape Chilean history recorded in both Spanish and Horn in March and April of 1745 (Angot 1896, Latin-American literature has uncovered copies Eather 1980, Schröder 1984). of the original publications by two earlier Jesu- In his classic book Majestic Lights: The its, Alonso de Ovalle SJ and Diego de Rosales Aurora in Science, History, and the Arts, Eather SJ, which describe a “battle in the sky” and a (1980) notes that an aurora was reported in “volcanic eruption”. The available historical Chile as early as AD 1640. Although Eather evidence is interpreted scientifically in terms of cites the book by Angot (1896), entitled The the coincidence of two separate optical phenom- Aurora Borealis, this merely contains an asser- ena over a period of three months (February– tion that polar aurorae were seen in Chile as April). These two phenomena can be explained early as AD 1640 and does not provide any in terms of essentially continuous optical emis- bibliographic references to support such a sion resulting from the volcanic eruption and statement. However, in his monograph Das more variable optical emission resulting from Polarlicht, Fritz (1881) quotes an earlier book intermittent auroral displays associated with by Molina on the natural history of Chile, the intense recurrent geomagnetic activity. original of which is written in Italian (Molina Some confusion and uncertainty surrounds 1782). Likewise, a catalogue of early observa- the earliest datable observation of the aurora tions of the “southern lights” (Das Südlicht), australis (or “southern lights”). The lack of which was published in two parts (in German) precise information on this question is both by Boller (1898), cites the same book by Molina, surprising and unsatisfactory in the sense that albeit via the German translation of this work by Charles III of Spain in 1767. On arriving in a convincing case can be made for the earliest (Molina 1786). Molina (1782) notes specifi- Spain and then travelling through Europe, datable observation of the aurora borealis (or cally that the aurora australis was seen only Molina first settled in Imola (then a city in the “northern lights”) being in the 6th century BC rarely in Chile. He further states: “In 1640 a northern reaches of the Papal States), where (Silverman 1998, Siscoe et al. 2002, Stephen- very large one appeared, which, according to he was ordained to the priesthood in 1769. He son and Willis 2002, Stephenson et al. 2004, the historians (or writers) of the time, could be moved to the nearby prestigious university city Silverman 2006). A number of authors have seen every night from the beginning of Febru- of Bologna in 1774, where he lived as a diocesan stated that the first reliable observation of the ary to the end of April.” Finding the original priest – known as Abate (Abbot) Molina – writ- aurora australis occurred on the night of 17 Feb- sources that justify the rather vague reference ing his natural and civil histories of Chile and ruary 1773, during the second voyage of Cap- to “the historians of the time” has presented the lecturing on various topics. tain James Cook to Australia (e.g. Chapman authors with an intriguing bibliographical and Molina’s first attempt to acquaint Europeans 1957, Uberoi 2000, Bone 2007), whereas the historical challenge. with Chile was his non-polemical work Com- aurora was, in fact, seen almost two-and-a-half pendio della storia geografica, naturale, e civ- years earlier during the first voyage to Australia Juan Ignacio Molina SJ ile del regno del Chili (Brief Treatment of the (Eather 1980). Indeed, the earliest known con- The Chilean Jesuit Juan Ignacio Molina SJ Geographic, Natural and Civil History of the jugate sightings of the aurora occurred on the (1740–1829; Giovanni Ignazio Molina in Ital- Kingdom of Chile), which was written in Ital- night of 16 September 1770, during Cook’s first ian), a naturalist and historian, is noted for his ian and published anonymously in Bologna in voyage to Australia (Willis et al. 1996). Obser- scholarly studies and writings on the natural 1776 (Ronan 2002). Subsequently, two books vations of the aurora australis on that night were and civil history of Chile (Ronan 2002) (figure written in Italian under his own name, Saggio recorded in the journals of (Sir) Joseph Banks 2). Molina was educated at the Jesuit colleges sulla storia naturale del Chili del signor Abate (Beaglehole 1962) and Sydney Parkinson (1773), at Talca, Concepción and Santiago in Chile, but Giovanni Ignazio Molina (Monograph on the written on board HMS Endeavour, while sight- he was forced to leave the country (in 1768), fol- Natural History of Chile by the Abbot Giovanni ings of the aurora borealis on the same night lowing the expulsion of the Jesuit Order from Ignazio Molina) (Molina 1782) and Saggio sulla were described in Chinese provincial histories the Spanish Empire as a result of a decree issued storia civile del Chili del signor Abate Giovanni 5.20 A&G •October2009•Vol.50 WILLIS ET AL.: EARLY AURORAE WILLIS ET AL.: EARLY AURORAE Early observation of the a urora australis: AD 1640 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/50/5/5.20/194482 by guest on 30 September 2021 2: Juan Ignacio Molina SJ (1740–1829). on polar aurorae, which “for a long time were believed only typical of the northern hemisphere, where they were generally called Aurora Bore- alis.” However, Molina mentions specifically that a similar phenomenon had been observed 1: Could an aurora have provoked the “towards the Antarctic by the well-known [Cap- description “a battle in the sky” in the 17th tain] Cook and other educated sailors” and that century? (Joshua Strang, USAF, Wikipedia) “unlike the others [in the northern hemisphere], these [observations] were called Aurora Austra- Ignazio Molina (Monograph on the Civil His- “Luckily, at that time, I came across part of my lis.” As in the first edition of his book (1782), tory of Chile by the Abbot Giovanni Ignazio manuscripts, which I had lost due to the haste he states that aurorae “were rarely seen in Chile Molina) (Molina 1787), were published in Bolo- and adventures of my travels.” Indeed, he notes or in other countries near the Tropics. In 1640 gna. The first book, in particular, obtained a further that “this part [of my manuscripts] was a very large one appeared which, according to high reputation on the continent of Europe, mutilated in many places and did not provide the historians of the time, could be seen every where it was translated into German (1786), me with the material necessary to write a natu- night from the beginning of February to the end Spanish (1788), French (1789) and later into ral history of the country, and I did not omit to of April.” Molina also mentions that these were, English (1808, 1809). A revised edition of the inform the public of this fact in the preface.” coincidentally, the very same months of the year book on the natural history of Chile was also According to Ronan (2002), Molina was in which Cook saw the aurora australis on his published in Bologna (Molina 1810). relieved by the customs agents of the research second voyage to Australia in 1773. Such com- Inevitably, there are some slight discrep- materials he had carefully amassed on Chil- ments indicate that Molina was well aware of ancies between the different translations of ean history and the country’s flora, fauna and the work of contemporary scientists. However, Molina’s first book on the natural history of mineral products, which he was attempting to the statement that the Chilean aurora of 1640 Chile (Molina 1782). In the English transla- smuggle aboard the ship Nuestra Señora del was observed every night from the beginning tion (1809), which is a “rather free” translation Rosario. This confiscation of his materials of February up to the end of April (si osservò (Ronan 2002) and hence sometimes imprecise, occurred at the start of his journey from Callao, tutte le notti dal principio di Febbrajo sino alla the editor states that Molina was deprived of Peru, via Cape Horn to Puerto de Santa María, fine di Aprile) seems improbable if only in terms his manuscripts and natural history collection near Cádiz, Spain. How Molina recovered his of likely meteorological constraints (e.g. cloud when he was expelled from Chile but he had battered and incomplete notes and papers is not cover).