"Snowflake" Bentley's Guide to Viewing Aurora in New England

Many students in New England have never seen an aurora despite its frequency of occurrence being more than 5 percent. Wilson Bentley (1865-1931), a Vermont farmer who became famous for pioneering snowflake photography, started a daily aurora watch at age 17 and maintained it into the last month of his life. This record contains three temporal patterns of auroral occurrence that offer not only helpful guidance to fruitful observing but also a promising approach to engaging students on the topics of space weather and star/planet relationships.