First Aurorasaurus Report-A-Thon A Success!

First Aurorasaurus Report-A-Thon A Success! 

The Aurorasaurus team, held their first ever Report-A-Thon, a way for those who use the Aurorasurus website to get together and connect over their mutual interest in the aurora and aurora science.

The Aurorasaurus team reported that it was fantastic to virtually see so many fellow aurora lovers. They networked with both longtime Aurorasaurus.com users and folks who have yet to see their first aurora! They also loved seeing participants’ photos and hearing about their amazing experiences.

Due to all the interested citizen scientists out there, Aurorasaurus says they are very grateful for the 100+ new reports added to the Aurorasaurus dataset! And last but definitely not least, many congrats to the winners of their first fun, quirky photo awards!

Missed the event? No worries, you can still participate by making reports at www.aurorasaurus.org.

Scientists will analyze the data, and the datasets will be cleaned for public distribution. Your backdated reports–positive or negative–are still relevant and can help reconstruct previous aurora events and in aggregate help improve models.

Our heartfelt thanks once again to all who helped make our first event a success!

Are you interested in the history of studying the Aurora? A look back—way back:

Ever heard of early aurora scientist Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan? Mairan was a prolific student of the aurora three centuries ago, and one of the main figures in a recent presentation by Aurorasaurus Ambassador Jin-Woo Choi, a PhD candidate in the History Department at Princeton University.

This presentation also give more information on the cultural context of early European efforts to describe, illustrate, understand, and catalog the aurora. As we make similar efforts today, it’s fascinating to hear about how others have in the past (although they used words like corona, columnae, pyramides, apertura, and more!)

Check out Jin-Woo’s talk on the Aurorasaurus YouTube channel.