The Planeterrella is coming

Work has begun on the University of Southampton Planeterrella, an amazing experiment that will bring the Northern Lights to events and schools.

The Planeterrella will be based on a French design, created by Jean Lilensten at the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics in Grenoble.  Following their success Planterrella's have been built around the world, including one at the University of Leicester .

It will be funded thanks to a grant from the STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) .

The Planeterrella will be built over the summer, and hopefully completed by the end of September 2016.  This will mean that it should be ready to go out to schools and events in late 2016.