Threading the light - from auroras to insight

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Abstract

Kristian Birkeland envisioned a world where the Sun and Earth were linked by invisible electric currents—a radical notion that helped unravel the mystery of the aurora and redefined our understanding of space itself.
More than a century later, his legacy continues to guide us. We now study the Sun as a dynamic system, shaping not only our upper atmosphere but the conditions for life and exploration across the solar system. From polar skies ablaze with auroral light to global efforts to monitor solar storms in real time, we are expanding the language and reach of Birkeland’s questions.
In this lecture, Dr Guhathakurta invites you into that unfolding story—not only through science, but through lived experience and wonder. We’ll trace a path from early terrella experiments to today’s space weather observatories, from eclipses that reveal the solar corona to magnetospheric storms that ripple through our world. We’ll reflect on how intuition, beauty, and persistence fuel scientific revolutions—and how awe itself becomes a method of inquiry.
This is a celebration of continuity and curiosity: of how a spark of insight can cross centuries, and how the dance between Sun and Earth continues to shape not just our environment, but our imagination.

Biography

Dr. Madhulika Guhathakurta— known to many as Lika—is a solar physicist, eclipse chaser, scientific storyteller, and lifelong student of the Sun. Over the course of her multifaceted career, she has helped transform heliophysics from a patchwork of space and plasma research into a cohesive, system-level science—one that connects solar storms to Earth’s atmosphere, auroras to AI, and ancient curiosity to modern technology.
Lika has led major scientific initiatives exploring how the Sun shapes the space environment of Earth and other worlds. Her work spans observational missions, interdisciplinary programs, and global collaborations that bring together physicists, artists, engineers, and machine learning scientists alike. A pioneer in integrating artificial intelligence with science, she sees today's data-driven revolution as the next great awakening in our understanding of the cosmos.
But Lika is as much a philosopher as she is a physicist. Whether reading poetry under a polar sky or mentoring the next generation of scientists, she approaches science not just as a method—but as a way of belonging. Her storytelling weaves auroral chemistry with wonder, total eclipses with personal transformation, and the solar wind with the human spirit.
She has delivered keynote talks around the world—from Arctic cruises to global science forums—sharing a vision of science as both rigorous and radiant. Her voice resonates at the intersection of curiosity, creativity, and cosmic inquiry.
Lika continues to write, speak, and mentor, illuminating the Sun not just as a star—but as a teacher, a mirror, and a partner in our unfolding story.

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