As I flew into Alaska, I took in a sharp breath at the expanse and beauty that I saw from my airplane window. As I surveyed the shoreline, the giant ice blocks floating in the ocean surprised me since I had never seen frozen sea water before. Driving to the hotel, I couldn’t catch my […]
Our aurora lecture this morning, courtesy of the Geophysical Institute, focused on the magnetic field in generating the sky event. There is a lot of research bring done on the aurora, and where better than it to be done than northern Alaska? We visited the Institute for Arctic Biology, Large Animal Research Center. It, like
We visited Poker Flats Research Range which is part of the geophysical institute (university of Alaska, Fairbanks). Here, they set off rockets for weather and atmospheric research. Our lecturer, Don Hampton, an optics guy, was very thorough in his description of their research function. He had a 1950s version and a current day version of
We went to the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks where Dr. Hui Zhang lectured on the aurora borealis. She presented what the aurora is, how it is formed, its cycle and how it affects us. We then had a presentation by the librarian from same institute. In the afternoon, we went to the
We took a 12 hour train ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks. We passed through Wasilla which has McDonald’s, subway, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut. Moose alerts. The moose hear the train and start running away. Magnificent. “We’re going to get a good view of The Mountain,” announces the conductor. We have perfect weather and can see
