The majestic dance of the aurora borealis has fascinated humans from before recorded history, and forms one of the universe's enduring signals to us from beyond our world. Dr. Eric Donovan, one of Canada's foremost researchers of these phenomena, takes us through the story of identifying and classifying a new type of aurora with the help of citizen observers, high tech satellites, and lots of patient data crunching. Although he initially focused on more theoretical and model-driven approaches to space physics, Dr. Eric Donovan's transformative moment came when he was asked in 1998 to examine data from Canada’s then only auroral camera being operated in Gillam, Manitoba. After spending an hour looking at aurora images collected by Leroy Cogger, he has since worked on almost nothing but the mysteries of the Northern Lights. His team now operates 40 auroral cameras across Canada (with another 20 planned), and are involved in US and European satellite missions as world leaders in observing the northern lights, using their data to answer questions about geospace â€" the outermost part of Earth’s environment. Full bio available at: http://www.tedxcalgary.ca/speakers/eric-donovan This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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