We present a plasma physics experiment which makes it possible to simulate polar lights. It consists of shooting electrons onto a magnetized sphere placed in a vacuum chamber. This experiment, inspired by Kristian Birkeland’s Terrella allows the user to simulate and visualize many simple geophysical and astrophysical situations. Because of its modularity and technical improvements with respect to Terrella, it is named “Planeterrella”. Several Planeterrellas are now used across Europe and in the United States. The design of the original experiment and the expertise of its first authors are shared freely with any public institute.