Aurora Sensations film showing July 31

July 31, 2012

Marmian Grimes

Poul Jensen, GI graduate student, will give a 30-minute showing of his aurora film at 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 31 in 109 Butrovich.

Jensen is a graduate student from Denmark studying space physics under Bill Bristow and has been with UAF since 2002. He was drawn to Alaska from the University of Copenhagen where he earned his BS in geophysics. The primary pull to UAF was the aurora and, in 2004, he acquired a quality camera to fully explore that interest as well as the time lapse technique.

Jensen's images, featured in the film, were all captured from various locations in Alaska including Wickersham Dome, Gerstle River, Rainbow Mountain, Twelve-mile Summit, Ester Dome, Manley Hot Springs Road, Chena Hot Springs Road, Anchorage/TurnagainArm and the Dalton Highway.

Jensen takes great pleasure in the challenge of the task, the frustrations of mistakes and the success of an amazing auroral display caught by his many, specialized cameras despite the cold.

"What I aim to do with my work is to recreate that sense of awe I experience out there and see if I can make others experience it too," he said. "Part of what keeps it so enjoyable is that the aurora is highly variable. No two nights are the same, and I can keep making new unique shots which is highly motivating"