Science & A Movie: Chasing Steve

Kick off the Heliophysics Big Year – a global celebration of all things sun science- with a screening of the film, Chasing Steve followed by a Q&A with NASA scientist, Liz MacDonald, and Dave Ingram from the Seattle Astronomical Society and Mark Stewart, an avid aurora photographer. MacDonald will join us remotely on the big screen while Ingram and Stewart will join in-person.

About the movie

For years, a group of aurora chasers across Alberta have been photographing a curious ribbon of purple and green light in their night skies. Extending for thousands of kilometres and appearing for just a few minutes to an hour at a time, these Alberta Aurora Chasers captured this celestial phenomenon in their photographs not quite knowing what it was.

Eric Donovan, a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Calgary, and Elizabeth MacDonald, a scientist at NASA, told them they had possibly discovered something never studied before. Affectionately calling it Steve, these photographers have captured the attention of the international scientific community and have become citizen scientist celebrities.

About the Speaker

Dr. Liz MacDonald

Dr. Liz MacDonald works for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. She lives and works on the traditional homelands of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla peoples in what today is known as Walla Walla, WA. She leads a collaborative science project, Aurorasaurus, which enlists people to help with community reports to improve predictions of the Northern and Southern Lights.

SCHEDULE

• Doors – 6:00 p.m.
• Movie – 6:30 p.m.
• Q&A – 7:15 p.m.

TICKETS

• General – $5
• Members – Free