This paper discusses heightened interest in the potential audibility of the aurora borealis during the First and Second International Polar Years (IPYs) of 1882–3 and 1932–3. Galvanized by a growing volume of local accounts expressing belief in the elusive noises, written by the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands, northern Canada, and Norway, auroral researchers of each era were determined to establish the objectivity of auroral sound. There was considerable speculation within the auroral research community as to whether the apparent noises were imagined or illusory, connected to discussions about the possibility of low-altitude aurorae. The anglophone auroral sound debate primarily played out within the official reports of IPY expeditions, the journal Nature, and a Shetland Island newspaper. I argue that the embodied senses were used exclusively to register the liminal sounds of the aurora across the two periods, despite developments in sound recording technologies, the primacy of mechanical objectivity, and instruments transported to the polar regions for the investigation of visual features of the phenomenon. This overlooked episode complicates narratives of polar science in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by revealing a faith in the corporeal senses and the significant role of amateur observers.

本文讨论了在 1882-3 和 1932-3 的第一和第二国际极地年 (IPY) 期间，人们对北极光的潜在可听性的高度关注。受到越来越多的当地报道的鼓舞，这些报道表达了对由设得兰群岛、加拿大北部和挪威的居民撰写的难以捉摸的噪音的信念，每个时代的极光研究人员都决心确定极光声音的客观性。极光研究界对这些明显的噪音是想象的还是虚幻的有相当多的猜测，这与关于低海拔极光可能性的讨论有关。讲英语的极光声音辩论主要在 IPY 探险的官方报告中上演，《自然》杂志和设得兰群岛报纸。我认为，尽管录音技术的发展、机械客观性的首要地位以及运送到极地地区以研究极地视觉特征的仪器，但体现的感官仅用于记录两个时期的极光的阈值声音。现象。这一被忽视的事件揭示了对物质感官的信仰和业余观察者的重要作用，使 19 世纪末和 20 世纪初的极地科学叙述复杂化。