When to Use Aurora 3D Explorer - Best Sessions and Limits
Open the Aurora 3D Explorer when you need auroral-oval and emission-altitude literacy - green oxygen 557.7 nm about 90-150 km, red oxygen 630.0 nm about 200-300 km, and teaching Kp from 0 to 9 - without a planetarium install or a live forecast feed.
A five-minute classroom demo
A five-minute classroom demo starts when you open Aurora 3D Explorer, reset to teaching Kp 3, press Play spin, then step Kp + until the oval expands equatorward. Pause and read green versus red altitudes in the facts panel - faster than a static oval sketch alone.
Colour-versus-height takeaways
Colour-versus-height takeaways stay readable when you keep the facts panel open: quiet ovals near 65-70 deg magnetic latitude, N2+ 427.8 nm at the lower fringe of rays, and the altitude envelope about 80-300 km. The scene follows NOAA SWPC OVATION literacy numbers; it does not stream a live magnetometer.
Sessions Aurora 3D Explorer does not fit
Sessions Aurora 3D Explorer does not fit are live NOAA SWPC forecast checks, observing-site trip planning, or particle-precipitation solvers. Use a dedicated space-weather service for those. For geography and lighting without curtains, open Earth 3D Globe. The aurora page needs WebGL and is not a win/lose game.
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