What is "aurora borealis"

Aurora \Au*ro"ra\, n.; pl. E. Auroras, L. (rarely used) Auror[ae]. [L. aurora, for ausosa, akin to Gr. ?, ?, dawn, Skr. ushas, and E. east.]

1. The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises.

2. The rise, dawn, or beginning.
   --Hawthorne.

3. (Class. Myth.) The Roman personification of the dawn of day; the goddess of the morning. The poets represented her a rising out of the ocean, in a chariot, with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew.

4. (Bot.) A species of crowfoot.
   --Johnson.

5. The aurora borealis or aurora australis (northern or southern lights).

   Aurora borealis, i. e., northern daybreak; popularly called northern lights. A luminous meteoric phenomenon, visible only at night, and supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or bank, a few degrees above the northern horizon; when reaching south beyond the zenith, it forms what is called the corona, about a spot in the heavens toward which the dipping needle points. Occasionally the aurora appears as an arch of light across the heavens from east to west. Sometimes it assumes a wavy appearance, and the streams of light are then called merry dancers. They assume a variety of colors, from a pale red or yellow to a deep red or blood color. The

   Aurora australisis a corresponding phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, the streams of light ascending in the same manner from near the southern horizon.

1620s, "Northern Lights," literally "northern dawn," said to have been coined by French philosopher Petrus Gassendus (1592-1655) after a spectacular display seen in France Sept. 2, 1621; see aurora + boreal. In northern Scotland and among sailors, sometimes called the dancers or the merry dancers.

n. The aurora of the northern hemisphere

n. the aurora of the northern hemisphere [syn: northern lights]

Aurora Borealis is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by James C.E. Burke and starring Joshua Jackson, Donald Sutherland, Juliette Lewis, and Louise Fletcher. The film was produced between November 3-December 19, 2003.

Aurora Borealis is an album by Cloud Cult.

Aurora Borealis is a natural light display.

Aurora Borealis may also refer to:

Aurora Borealis is an American black metal band from Waldorf, Maryland. The band was founded by guitarist Ron Vento and drummer Tony Laureano in 1994. In 1996 they released their first EP, Mansions of Eternity.

Aurora Borealis is an 1865 painting by Frederic Edwin Church of the aurora borealis and the Arctic expedition of Dr. Isaac Hayes. The painting measures 56 × 84 1/2 in. (142.3 × 212.2 cm) and is now owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.