Large‐Scale Dune Aurora Event Investigation Combining Citizen Scientists' Photographs and Spacecraft Observations

Abstract

Recently, a study carried out jointly by researchers and citizen scientists described an auroral form previously unreported in the literature, which was called "the dunes" (Palmroth, Grandin, Helin, et al., 2020). Citizen science has emerged as a powerful way to unravel previously overlooked physical phenomena while making science accessible beyond academia by involving citizen scientists in research projects (Grandin, 2020). In space physics, a particularly noteworthy illustration of the breakthroughs citizen science can achieve is the ongoing studies of the Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) phenomenon, which consists of faint optical emissions forming a ribbon equatorward from the main auroral arc, essentially