MV Aurora

A number of Motor Vessels have been named MV Aurora, including -

MV Aurora (1955)

MV Aurora is a 1955 built vintage cruise ship, now being moored in Stockton, California after months of preservation in Rio Vista, California.

History

Aurora was launched as the Wappen von Hamburg for HADAG at Blohm & Voss, intended to be used for day long cruise voyages from Hamburg, calling at Cuxhaven, Helgoland, and Hörnum. She was the first ship to be built in West Germany since World War II. However, after only five years with her original owners, Wappen Von Hamburg was sold to Greek interests, the Nomikos Line. With this sale she was renamed Delos and refitted, the additions being a swimming pool, air conditioning in all cabins, a spa, beauty salon, and gift shop.

In 1967 the ship was sold to West Tour and renamed Polar Star for cruising in Alaskan waters. She passed through several owners and names during her decade long stay in Alaska, even once being partially owned by the Holland America Line. Eventually as the cruise industry began to fade, the now renamed Xanadu was laid up in Vancouver in 1977. In 1985 a new Los Angeles-based company planned to rename Xanadu Expex and moor her as an exhibition ship. This plan never took off and she remained laid up. In 1991 there were plans to convert this ship into a hospital ship for use in the Caribbean, but she never operated in this role due to funds falling through.

Aurora

An aurora, sometimes referred to as a polar light, is a natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions. Auroras are produced when the magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere), where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying colour and complexity. The form of the aurora, occurring within bands around both polar regions, is also dependent on the amount of acceleration imparted to the precipitating particles. Precipitating protons generally produce optical emissions as incident hydrogen atoms after gaining electrons from the atmosphere. Proton auroras are usually observed at lower latitudes. Different aspects of an aurora are elaborated in various sections below.

Aurora (Spencer, Virginia)

Aurora, also known as the Pink House, Boxwood, and the Penn Homestead, is a historic home located at Penn's Store near Spencer, Patrick County, Virginia. It was built between 1853 and 1856, and is a two-story, three-bay, hipped-roof frame house in the Italian Villa style. It features one-story porches on the east and west facades, round-arched windows, clustered chimneys, and low pitched roofs. Also on the property is a contributing small one-story frame building once used as an office. It was built by Thomas Jefferson Penn (1810-1888), whose son, Frank Reid Penn founded the company F.R & G. Penn Co. that was eventually acquired by tobacco magnate James Duke to form the American Tobacco Company.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

References

Aurora (Turin)

Aurora is an historical district in the city of Turin, Italy. The district includes:

Coordinates: 45°04′59″N 7°41′17″E / 45.08306°N 7.68806°E / 45.08306; 7.68806