Ursa Astronomical Association is the largest astronomical

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 association in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. Ursa was founded on 2 November 1921. Founding members include a renowned Finnish astronomer

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

 Yrjö Väisälä

Yrjö Väisälä

Yrjö Väisälä was a Finnish astronomer and physicist.His main contributions were in the field of optics, but he was also very active in geodetics, astronomy and optical metrology...

. In 1926 Ursa established the Ursa Observatory

Ursa Observatory

The Ursa Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Helsinki, Finland....

 in Kaivopuisto

Kaivopuisto

Kaivopuisto , or in spoken language, Kaivari, is one of the oldest and best known parks in central Helsinki, Finland, and also a neighbourhood of about 500 inhabitants where the park is located.-Geography:...

 district of Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

. Ursa's primary functions include advancing amateur astronomy

Amateur astronomy

Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...

 and astronomical education. They have also published a magazine Tähdet ja avaruus

Tähdet ja avaruus

Tähdet ja avaruus is a Finnish science magazine which publishes recent developments, news and interviews in astronomy, space technology and amateur astronomy....

 since 1971. Anyone interested in astronomy can join the 14,000-member organization.

Sections

The organization has thirteen sections specialized in different aspects of amateur astronomy (and meteorology):

• Solar section
• Halo section
• Instrument section
• Atmospheric optical phenomena section
• Clubs and organization
• Lunar, planetary and cometary section
• Mathematics and information technology section
• Meteor section
• Storm chasing
  Storm chasing
  Storm chasing is broadly defined as the pursuit of any severe weather condition, regardless of motive, which can be curiosity, adventure, scientific exploration or for news professions/media coverage....
  
   section
• Minor planet
  Minor planet
  An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
  
   and occultation
  Occultation
  An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The word is used in astronomy . It can also refer to any situation wherein an object in the foreground blocks from view an object in the background...
  
   section
• Aurora
  Aurora (astronomy)
  An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
  
  section
• Deep sky section
• Satellite section

In addition, Ursa has two loosely organized hobby groups:

• Variable stars
• Observation conditions