This month . . . Auroras. Named for the Roman goddess of the dawn. Auroras are caused by the collision of energetically charged particles with atoms in the high-altitude thermosphere of our atmosphere and are associated with the solar winds that flow past Earth. Auroras are known in the southern hemisphere as Aurora Australis or “Southern Lights” and in the northern hemisphere as Aurora Borealis or “Northern Lights” Auroras in the southern hemisphere have been seen, on rare o

4th February 1600 Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler meet for the first time near Prague. Kepler arrived at Tycho’s new observatory, Benatek Observatory, hoping that Brahe would share his observations of the stars and planets. Over the next two months Kepler analysed some of Tycho's observations of Mars. In August of 1600, Kepler returned to Prague to work on the Rudolphine Tables. Image Left: Engraving from the book: Tycho Brahe (1598), Astronomiae instauratae mechanica 3rd Feb