Why Citizen Science?

24 storms in 2 years

Gaining understanding

I don't think I can tell you how many nights I have sat in the dark. Sometimes for meteors, bioluminescence, but most nights for aurora. I also can not tell you how many nights I have been disappointed. By 2023 I started to get some momentum, the more storms I photographed, the better I became. As time went on I was left with questions, I found out about the different kinds of aurora and substorms. Every storm is unique and you always know at a glance what storm you are looking at. In July 2023 I was able to experience a interesting storm that not only had a defused aurora most of the night, it also had a long lasting magenta pillar and picket fence (S.T.E.V.E.) so I went back to pulled the number archive after comparing numbers to my photos I charted the data and recorded my observations. I love a good spreadsheet! I started pulling other storms I photographed, and repeated the process. I found a greater understanding of how an aurora functions and changes. Patterns started to appear, and helped make sense of what was happening in front of me and better forecast for myself. Finally, I gathered enough courage to contact Aurorasaurus with my findings and my unique way how recording my photos. 

To blog or not to blog

I am not a scientist or professor. I am a mom with a love of adventuring with her only free time being during the night. I considered spending the next few years creating and publishing a science journal, there was a lot of hoops and are not really fit for photo based data. I could write a book, each report being several pages. After weighing my options I thought this could be a better outlet to get this data out to there so we can all expand our understanding and hopefully answer questions we may have regarding solar storms. 

I brought my findings to Aurorasaurus, a Citizen Science program where they have introduced me to many others who are just as passionate. They also gave my pictures a purpose, which I am so grateful for. 

My theories are my own, and I am simply gathering the data and presenting it. I hope to follow a scientific structure, to show possible insight into a more knowledgeable way of forecasting. I welcome peer review of my findings and I don't come with all the answers, but I do have archive data (thank you Space Weather Live) and photos!