The planeterrella: Bringing the aurora to the public

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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.