{"id":24,"date":"2017-05-30T17:11:39","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T16:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.popastro.com\/main_spa1\/aurora\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2024-07-03T00:38:07","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T23:38:07","slug":"welcome-to-the-aurora-section","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Aurora Section"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0SPA Aurora Section routinely observes the annual occurrence of the <strong>aurora<\/strong> and <strong>noctilucent cloud (NLC)<\/strong>; both phenomena occur on the fringes of space in the Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1957\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/11\/aurora2sm.jpg\" alt=\"aurora\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Section offers advice on how best to observe and subsequently submit auroral reports. Our aim is to train members in the use of standard observing and reporting procedures and to promote a general interest in observational astronomy. We are especially pleased to welcome young or novice amateurs, though astronomers of all abilities and age groups regularly contribute to our observing projects.<\/p>\n<p>Observing the aurora or noctilucent cloud is a naked eye activity and requires no special equipment \u2013 other than some enthusiasm and patience!<\/p>\n<p>On this site you will find practical advice and information on how to conduct useful observations.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra Brantingham<\/p>\n<p>Aurora &amp; NLC Director<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>NLC Sightings &#8211; 2024<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Reports have been sent in from several members. Some are shown below, and you can view more by visiting the <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.popastro.com\/viewtopic.php?t=23354\">SPA Forum<\/a>, which is free to use by anyone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>23\u201324 June<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2184\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2184\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1447_s.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2184\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1447_s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1447_s.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1447_s-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1447_s-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1447_s-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1447_s-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2184\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Sandra Brantingham&#8217;s view from Glengarry, Banff, Scotland<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2182\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2182\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/DSC6835_crop.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2182\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/DSC6835_crop.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/DSC6835_crop.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/DSC6835_crop-300x91.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/DSC6835_crop-1024x311.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/DSC6835_crop-768x234.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/DSC6835_crop-600x183.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2182\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Little Marlow, Bucks. Photo: Robin Scagell.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2183\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2183\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1229s_s.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2183\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1229s_s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"996\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1229s_s.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1229s_s-241x300.jpg 241w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1229s_s-768x956.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1229s_s-600x747.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2183\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Lee Macdonald in Oxford glimpsed the 23 June event<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>29\/29 June<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2185\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2185\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1473_s.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2185\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1473_s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1473_s.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1473_s-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1473_s-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1473_s-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/IMG_1473_s-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2185\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Display from Glengarry, Banff. Photo: Sandra Brantingham<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>30 June\/1 July<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2186\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2186\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2186\" src=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-1024x348.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-1024x348.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-300x102.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-768x261.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-1536x522.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-2048x696.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/07\/Eric-Walker17-600x204.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2186\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Takan at 01:30 on 1 July from Conon Bridge, Ross-shire, by Eric Walker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0SPA Aurora Section routinely observes the annual occurrence of the aurora and noctilucent cloud (NLC); both phenomena occur on the fringes of space in the Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere. The Section offers advice on how best to observe and subsequently submit<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/\"><span>Read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.1.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The SPA Aurora Section routinely observes the annual occurrence of the aurora and noctilucent cloud (NLC); both phenomena occur on the fringes of space in the Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere. The Section offers advice on how best to observe and subsequently submit auroral reports. Our aim is to train members in the use of standard observing and\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/aurora\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.1.1\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aurora Section -\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome to the Aurora Section - Aurora Section\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The SPA Aurora Section routinely observes the annual occurrence of the aurora and noctilucent cloud (NLC); both phenomena occur on the fringes of space in the Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere. The Section offers advice on how best to observe and subsequently submit auroral reports. 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