The UAF Geophysical Institute is sponsoring a series of lectures for the 14^th year in a row. Last Tuesday's lecture was presented by Hans Nieleon.

Nielson, from Denmark, came to Alaska in 1967 and has been studying the Aurorass ever since.

His lecture was about the phenomena of mirror images of the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis. Nielsen explained how two conjugate planes flew in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, taking pictures of the night sky to see if auroras mirrored one another. He showed several slides that demonstrated similar aurora images that were taken a world apart from each other. During the lecture, Nielsen explored several aspects of the auroras that have been investigated by scientists at UAF.

The auroras have many mysteries that scientists have yet to unlock. They know that they are caused by energetic electrons entering the top of the atmosphere and that the electrons are guided by Earth's magnetic field. Some people report to being able to hear the Aurora Borealis, but Nielsen believes this to be impossible.

After the lecture, audience members had the opportunity to ask questions. Many members were interested in how they could best view the aurora. The ideal time to see the aurora is between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. over the northern horizon.

Nielson says that giving a public lecture is a lot different than teaching a class because you must explain very technical things to people that have no technical background. "Giving a lecture to the public is a fun thing," he said, "it's a good way to get community involvement."

The meeting room of the Gold Room of the Westmark hotel was full of people of all ages and interests. Mike Lee, who came with his wife Clare, attends the lectures each week.

"We haven't missed one yet," he said. "We're hoping to find out why we haven't seen the aurora much this year at this one."

The lectures started 14 years ago in the Noel Wien Public Library, but have expanded to the Westmark Hotel and lecturers are now traveling to Anchorage and Juneau as well.

The next lecture, "Recreating the World of Alaska's Dinosaurs," by Paul McCarthy, will be held Tuesday, Feb. 7. A week later Brendan P. Kelly will present "Seals on Thin Ice: An Effect of Climate Change."