Physicists and amateur stargazers have discovered ‘the dunes’, a previously unknown kind of aurora phenomenon. The dunes are luminous, rippling wave patterns that does not fit any established aurora category. The new phenomenon has been documented thanks to the collaboration of space photographers and professional astronomers, as ScienceAlert details:
While authoring a guide book on the aurora borealis (aka northern lights), computational space physicist Minna Palmroth from the University of Helsinki had her attention drawn to the dunes, which at the time did not fit into the known kinds of aurora.
Shortly after the book was published, members of the Finnish hobbyist community again identified and photographed the dunes phenomenon in the sky, sharing the imagery with Palmroth and her colleagues so they could investigate it.
"One of the most memorable moments of our research collaboration was when the phenomenon appeared at that specific time and we were able to examine it in real time," says astronomy hobbyist Matti Helin.
"It was like piecing together a puzzle or conducting detective work. Every day we found new images and came up with new ideas."
image via ScienceAlert