The planeterrella: Bringing the aurora to the public
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The aurora is an inspiring natural wonder, and the Space Environment Group (SEP) at the University of Southampton aims to bring the aurora to the public and to classrooms. Our project would enthuse people about the aurora and the related topic of space weather, engaging people with world-class research in these areas being done by the SEP and throughout the rest of the UK. Space weather is classified as a hazard by the Government and the Cabinet Office has said "the main challenge we face is that awareness of the risk [due to space weather] is low".
The University of Southampton currently has a successful engagement programme centred around a planetarium known as the 'Soton Astrodome'. In the last two years, auroral topics have been added and proven popular with audiences, inspiring us to launch a campaign dedicated to the aurora.
One aspect of engaging the public with aurora is demonstrating the basic scientific principles behind them. In the 19th century, Kristian Birkeland needed to demonstrate his theories on how the aurora were formed, and so he built a planeterrella, or simply 'terrella': an experiment in which artificial aurora can be generated around magnetised spheres in a vacuum chamber. Birkeland's life story is fascinating (multiple biographies have been written of his life) and so a narrative can be formed around his life. This will extend the reach of our engagement by enticing audiences not previously engaged with science.
French scientist Dr Jean Lilensten has successfully built a modernised terrella based on Birkeland's original. Now incorporating two spheres (a modelled star and planet), terrellas have been built according to his plans throughout Europe, with one having been built in the UK. The British terrella was built by Dr Gabby Provan at the University of Leicester using an older version of the plans. Terrellas have been shown to capture the public's interest throughout Europe, and the terrella in Leicester has been used to engage 15000 people with auroral research, also being demonstrated by Dara O'Briain and Brian Cox on Stargazing Live. We intend to utilise the expertise of Dr Lilensten in the construction of the terrella and work with Dr Provan to modify existing engagement resources and create new ones.
The University of Southampton currently has a successful engagement programme centred around a planetarium known as the 'Soton Astrodome'. In the last two years, auroral topics have been added and proven popular with audiences, inspiring us to launch a campaign dedicated to the aurora.
One aspect of engaging the public with aurora is demonstrating the basic scientific principles behind them. In the 19th century, Kristian Birkeland needed to demonstrate his theories on how the aurora were formed, and so he built a planeterrella, or simply 'terrella': an experiment in which artificial aurora can be generated around magnetised spheres in a vacuum chamber. Birkeland's life story is fascinating (multiple biographies have been written of his life) and so a narrative can be formed around his life. This will extend the reach of our engagement by enticing audiences not previously engaged with science.
French scientist Dr Jean Lilensten has successfully built a modernised terrella based on Birkeland's original. Now incorporating two spheres (a modelled star and planet), terrellas have been built according to his plans throughout Europe, with one having been built in the UK. The British terrella was built by Dr Gabby Provan at the University of Leicester using an older version of the plans. Terrellas have been shown to capture the public's interest throughout Europe, and the terrella in Leicester has been used to engage 15000 people with auroral research, also being demonstrated by Dara O'Briain and Brian Cox on Stargazing Live. We intend to utilise the expertise of Dr Lilensten in the construction of the terrella and work with Dr Provan to modify existing engagement resources and create new ones.
| Description | Unnamed STFC public engagement team call for applications for £3000 of extra funding (early 2018) |
| Amount | £3,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2018 |
| End | 03/2018 |
| Description | Collaboration with Gabby Proven and Jean Lilensten |
| Organisation | University of Grenoble |
| Department | Institute for Planetary sciences and Astrophysics Grenoble (IPAG) |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Members of the workshop at the University of Southampton reworked the design and plans for the planeterrella, introducing new safety and operational features. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Jean Lilensten at IPAG gave us the original plans for the planeterrella, which is his brainchild. Gabby Provan at the University of Leicester provided invaluable expertise related to the building and operation of the planeterrella located at the University of Leicester, which was critical to the success of our build. |
| Impact | A working planeterrella which has been used in two engagements so far (listed in the engagements section). |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Collaboration with Gabby Proven and Jean Lilensten |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Department | Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Members of the workshop at the University of Southampton reworked the design and plans for the planeterrella, introducing new safety and operational features. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Jean Lilensten at IPAG gave us the original plans for the planeterrella, which is his brainchild. Gabby Provan at the University of Leicester provided invaluable expertise related to the building and operation of the planeterrella located at the University of Leicester, which was critical to the success of our build. |
| Impact | A working planeterrella which has been used in two engagements so far (listed in the engagements section). |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Big Bang (Winchester) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We attended the Big Bang at Winchester Science Centre with the planeterrella. Although we were unable to operate the planeterrella due to technical issues, we successfully engaged both students and teachers at schools by using videos of the planeterrella and explaining what should have been happening. Several students were excited by the prospect of fixing the planeterrella and enthusiastically gave feedback on avenues we could explore to do so, but we also engaged teachers from schools in the region, who were interested in having a demonstration of the planeterrella, as well as the staff at the Winchester Science Centre, who expressed an interest in both having us back at the Centre but also in helping us contact schools for potential demonstrations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Stargazing Live (Southampton) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of Southampton's annual Stargazing Live event on 11 January 2017, the planeterrella was launched. I gave a talk on the aurora to kickstart proceedings to approximately 20 people, before directing people to visit the planeterrella, which had been set up in a dedicated room for the evening. Although technical problems meant that we engaged the public with videos of the planeterrella in the first 30 minutes of operation, we fixed the apparatus and were able to engage the public with the planeterrella itself for the rest of the evening. 200 people acquired tickets for the Astrodome tours at the Stargazing Live event, and therefore we estimate that 100 people engaged with the planeterrella during the event. Several members of the public mentioned the talk I gave at the start of the evening and asked questions about the topics I had touched on, and on-the-day evaluation indicated that we had successfully communicated several key points regarding the aurora and related science to the members of the public we spoke to. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |