Case file · Cosmic event
Cook's ships see the southern lights
On 17 February 1773, deep in the Southern Ocean, James Cook's Resolution recorded lights in the sky like the northern lights, one of the first European written descriptions of the aurora australis.
1773 CE · -58.00, 95.00 · status: official
The account
Cook named them the 'Aurora Australis'. Māori and other southern peoples had long had their own names and stories for the lights. Position approximate.