Pal Brekke: The Northern Lights: A Magic Experience

The aurora borealis is a natural moving multicolor light display observed in the high northern latitude. This natural phenomenon is a source of imagination and awe that drives exploration of the world around us.

Dr. Brekke shared the science behind the aurora borealis as a visual manifestation on the sun-Earth connection. And how this also can affect our technology based society. He talked about the production of the documentary.

Abstract:
For thousands of years, people have marveled at the aurora borealis, or northern lights, a spectacular display of color and light in the night sky of the far northern hemisphere. Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland, (1867–1917) was the first to theorize that particles from solar wind were sparking the northern lights, but the details of the phenomenon are still not fully understood.

Join us as Norwegian solar physicist, Dr. Pål Brekke, shares this amazing spectacle in a special screening of his documentary, “The Northern Lights: A Magic Experience.” The 25-minute documentary takes you on a breathtaking journey through space. By using pedagogic top-quality animations and spectacular solar imagery from NASA satellites it tells the full story of the northern lights from myth to science. The film is packed with interesting historical anecdotes and includes tips about how to take your own stunning aurora photos.

It includes some of the world’s best photography and time-lapse sequences of the northern lights. The film also contains brand new – never seen before – graphics and animations specially made for this documentary. In particular, how the particles from the Sun run along Earth’s magnetic field – colliding with atoms – exciting them to emit light.

Biography:
Dr. Brekke received a PhD in 1993 from the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo. His work focused on observations of the sun from instruments on sounding rockets and the space shuttle Challenger. After the launch of Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) in December 1995, he was part of the science operation team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). In 1999, he joined the European Space Agency (ESA) as the SOHO deputy project scientist stationed at GSFC. His responsibility included being in charge of outreach and media activities, and was instrumental in making SOHO to one of the most well known current satellite projects.

He received a Fulbright Fellowship in 1994, ESA’s Exceptional Achievement Award in 2002, Laurels for Team Achievements from the International Academy of Astronautics in 2003. He served on several NASA Review Panels and as referee for various scientific journals. Brekke is a Norwegian delegate to several ESA Programme Board and WMOs Space Weather programme. He is a board member of the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research and the Birkeland Committee. He is also a Professor II at the University Center at Svalbard (UNIS).

Dr. Brekke also is an author of several international popular science books about the sun and the Northern Lights line “Our Explosive Sun” (Springer) and “Northern Lights—a Guide” (Press Forlag). Recently, he produced the award-winning documentary, “The Northern Lights – a Magic Experience” (2015).