The planeterrella: Bringing the aurora to the public

极光是一个鼓舞人心的自然奇观，南安普顿大学的空间环境小组（SEP）旨在将极光带给公众和教室。我们的项目将激发人们对极光和空间天气相关主题的热情，让人们参与SEP和英国其他地区正在进行的这些领域的世界级研究。政府将空间天气列为一种危险，内阁办公室说，“我们面临的主要挑战是对[空间天气造成的]风险的认识很低”，南安普顿大学目前围绕一个称为“索顿天文馆”的天文馆开展了一个成功的参与方案。在过去的两年里，极光的话题被加入，并被证明是受欢迎的，这激励我们发起了一个致力于极光的活动。让公众参与极光的一个方面是展示极光背后的基本科学原理。在19世纪世纪，克里斯蒂安·伯克兰需要证明他关于极光是如何形成的理论，所以他建造了一个planeterella，或者简单地说是“terrella”：一个实验，在真空室中的磁化球体周围可以产生人造极光。伯克兰的生活故事是迷人的（多个传记已经写了他的生活），所以叙事可以围绕他的生活形成。法国科学家Jean Lilensten博士已经成功地在Birkeland的原型基础上建造了一个现代化的terrella。现在结合两个球体（一个模型星星和行星），terrellas已经根据他的计划在整个欧洲建造，其中一个已经在英国建造。英国terrella是由莱斯特大学的Gabby Provan博士使用旧版本的计划建造的。Terrellas已经被证明可以吸引整个欧洲公众的兴趣，莱斯特的Terrella已经被用于吸引15000人参与极光研究，达拉奥布莱恩和布莱恩考克斯也在观星直播中进行了演示。我们打算利用Lilensten博士的专业知识建造terrella，并与Provan博士合作修改现有的参与资源并创建新的资源。

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.