127
He was also very interested in better understanding those processes occurring on
the Earth’s atmosphere due to Sun–Earth interactions. In his communications from
the period, Secchi reported a spectacular aurora seen in Rome on the night of August
29, 1859, with simultaneous disturbances recorded by his magnetometers measuring the Earth’s magnetic field, and malfunctions of the telegraph network. In particular, Secchi reported that “it is extremely remarkable that these great perturbations
should have coincided with a maximum of solar spots and should have happened
precisely at a moment when an immense spot was visible on the disc of the sun even
without the aid of the telescope.” In his writings, Secchi cited the theory of a connection between the Sun and the planets of the solar system, introducing the term
“solar meteorology” to describe phenomena related to the activity of the Sun
(Secchi 1866).
Fig. 7.3 (a, b) Some examples of the drawings produced by Secchi during his observations of the
solar surface from August 25 to September 6, 1859, at the time of the Carrington event
7 The Legacy of Angelo Secchi at the Forefront of Solar Physics Research
He was also very interested in better understanding those processes occurring on
the Earth’s atmosphere due to Sun–Earth interactions. In his communications from
the period, Secchi reported a spectacular aurora seen in Rome on the night of August
29, 1859, with simultaneous disturbances recorded by his magnetometers measuring the Earth’s magnetic field, and malfunctions of the telegraph network. In particular, Secchi reported that “it is extremely remarkable that these great perturbations
should have coincided with a maximum of solar spots and should have happened
precisely at a moment when an immense spot was visible on the disc of the sun even
without the aid of the telescope.” In his writings, Secchi cited the theory of a connection between the Sun and the planets of the solar system, introducing the term
“solar meteorology” to describe phenomena related to the activity of the Sun
(Secchi 1866).
Fig. 7.3 (a, b) Some examples of the drawings produced by Secchi during his observations of the
solar surface from August 25 to September 6, 1859, at the time of the Carrington event
7 The Legacy of Angelo Secchi at the Forefront of Solar Physics Research