Sammendrag:
The Norwegian professor Kristian Birkeland (1867-1917) is probably best known for his 'Terrella-experiments', where he simulated the Aurora Borealis on metal spheres (terrellas, meaning small Earths) in vacuum chambers. Birkeland and the largest experiment are now depicted on the 200-kroner bank note.
Birkeland's attempts to 'tame' the Northern Lights and 'can' it in tubes and glass boxes are often described as unique and ground-breaking. However, a more comprehensive study of relevant texts and museum-artefacts show that laboratory aurora was nothing new in Birkeland's period. Like everyone else, Birkeland based his theories and experiments on existing knowledge and equipment.
In this paper, I will describe various attempts to create laboratory auroras, from around 1675 until Birkeland. Throughout this period, much effort was made to replicate and 'can' the aurora, based on current theories and available technical equipment.