This map was created by cartographer August Heinrich Petermann, using information provided by geophysicist Hermann Fritz, and published by Justus Perthes in 1874. It is one of the earliest representations of the geographical distribution of the Northern Lights.
The map shows different black lines representing the frequency of northern lights in different regions. The lines closest to the North Pole are those where the frequency is highest, reaching a number of 100, which corresponds to a 100% probability of seeing northern lights if they are visible on the planet on that day. The blue-green line shows the maximum extent of Arctic ice.
Hermann Fritz devoted much of his life to studying the Northern Lights. He collected data on their occurrence in different regions of the world, culminating his work with the representation of that data on this map.
Although the data provided by Fritz may not be accurate according to the information we have today, this map shows the interest that existed in the 19th century in documenting different natural phenomena in order to understand their scientific basis.
Sources
- Map of the geographical distribution of the Northern Lights
- Mapping the Northern Lights — Hermann Fritz and Data Visualisation
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