A question we often get is “does the aurora make sound?” Observers sometimes note a crackling, rustling, whooshing, or similar noise when they watch aurora, but there has not been a lot of conclusive scientific study and anecdotal reports can be met with skepticism in the scientific community. In this blog post, we dive into… Read More »Listening for the sound of aurora—in the historical record
Note: This blog post contains and links to eclipse imagery. The April 8, 2024 eclipse was an amazing experience for millions, and inspired more than 36,000 people to #DoNASAScience! While the solar eclipse is now over, eclipse participatory science projects are going strong. In addition, the Heliophysics Big Year—a global celebration of solar science and… Read More »Helio Big Year: More Ways to Celebrate!
Guest post by Francesca Di Mare Plane travelers often hope for smooth flights without bumpy turbulence. Turbulence is a kind of chaotic motion in the flow of fluids that is constantly changing in characteristics like speed, energy, temperature, and more. It is full of different-sized swirls that mix things together and dissipate, or spread out,… Read More »Turbulence is everywhere – even in space!
One of the questions we get most often is, “how can I see the aurora?” The answer is surprisingly complicated and can be difficult to explain to students. In order to help explain, we made a collaborative, role-playing card game! With a special deck of printable cards and a dash of imagination, players work together… Read More »Aurora Chasers: The Game!
On February 24, running through March 10, 2022, the watch begins for the perfect opportunity to launch a sounding rocket into a common but rarely-viewed type of aurora: the pulsating aurora. The NASA Loss through Auroral Microburst Pulsations (LAMP) mission will send instruments high above the auroral light. Read on to find out what the… Read More »Be a Rocket Citizen Scientist: Help Study Pulsating Aurora!
This has been quite the year. But while Aurorasaurus staff attended an online version of the American Geophysical Union conference, the biggest conference in the space physics field, one thing stayed the same: we were blown away by the work our colleagues have done! Here’s a roundup to share with readers of the amazing presentations… Read More »From Science to Society and the Sun to the Earth: An AGU 2021 Roundup
On October 24, 2011 a solar storm brought beautiful auroras that lit the skies with red colors visible as far south as Alabama! “I had heard of Twitter,” remembers Dr. Liz, “so I got online that night and could see a lot of people recording their observations.” For the first time, solar maximum—the most active… Read More »Aurorasaurus, 10 Years Later
Meet the North Dakota Dual Aurora Cameras (NoDDAC)! This project is led by university student and Aurorasaurus Ambassador Vincent Ledvina in collaboration with Aurorasaurus, the University of North Dakota (UND), and LiveAuroraNetwork. Using both a north-facing and an allsky camera, NoDDAC provides aurora chasers with live views of the night sky from North Dakota. During… Read More »“What if North Dakota had its own aurora camera?”
Guest post by Jeremy Kuzub Attending AGU 20? Jeremy will be presenting Keogramist as a poster in The MacGyver Session: The Place for Novel, Exciting, Self-Made, Hacked, or Improved Sensors and Software Solutions to Understand Space Weather eLightning on December 15, 2020 at 6:00 AKT/7:00 PT/8:00 MT/9:00 CT/10:00 ET/15:00 UTC. There will be a Q&A element, so bring any questions… Read More »Eyes on the Aurora, Part 3: Exploring Over a Thousand Nights of Aurora on Your Phone
Laura here! I am an aurora enthusiast, but new to the science side. Fortunately, the Aurorasaurus blog and website are full of great resources that I’ll be sharing out as I cultivate my knowledge. This week: what is Bz (pronounced “bee-zee”)? It sounds complicated but this post by former intern Sean McCloat makes it clearer.… Read More »Laura Learns Aurora: The Buzz on Bz