Lecturer to discuss aurora as revealed by digital tools
January 24, 2014
907-474-5229
1/24/14
Aurora watching, enjoyed for millenia, is expanding in the digital age.
Don Hampton, a space physicist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, will talk about what that means at the next Science for Alaska Lecture Series Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel and Convention Center.
Hampton has been part of modernizing aurora observations by the Geophysical Institute and Poker Flat Research Range. Inexpensive, highly sensitive digital imagers are showing, among other findings, a broader range of aurora forms, from very faint to blazing bright.
He’ll discuss how auroral studies contribute to understanding outer space closest to Earth and possible new discoveries that UAF could have because of the digital revolution.
For 22 years, the GI has hosted the Science For Alaska Lecture Series and this year welcomes new sponsor, Alaska Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, a statewide UA program headquartered at UAF. The lecture series will feature current research on aurora, remote sensing, noisy volcanoes, melting glaciers and the greening Arctic. Scientists presenting the lectures are on the forefront of their fields and will focus on projects relevant to Alaska. Lectures will continue on Tuesday evenings through Feb. 25.
All lectures are free. Following each lecture, audience members will have an opportunity to meet the scientists and ask questions.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Don Hampton, GI space physicist, 907-474-2256, or dhampton@gi.alaska.edu. Amy Hartley, GI public information officer, 907-474-5823 or amy.hartley@gi.alaska.edu.
ON THE WEB: www.scienceforalaska.com.
DC/1-24-14/177-14