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Posted by Andrew Yee on January 12, 2007, 6:55 pm
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Media Relations
University of Calgary
Calgary, Canada
January 12, 2007
Northern lights research enters final frontier
Canadian scientists help new NASA satellite project gain a closer look at
the aurora borealis
An international team of scientists -- including physicists from the
University of Calgary -- will begin gathering the most detailed information
yet about the ever-changing northern lights, as a multi-year research
project enters its ultimate phase with the launch of five NASA satellites
from Cape Canaveral next month.
Researchers in the U of C's Institute for Space Research will play a
critical role in a five-satellite NASA mission called THEMIS (Time History
of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) which is scheduled
for launch at 6:07 pm (Eastern Time [2307 UTC]) on Feb. 15, just over a
month from today. For their part in the program, the U of C's THEMIS team is
operating a network of Ground-Based Observatories (GBOs) across Northern
Canada. The THEMIS satellites will probe dynamic processes of astrophysical
interest in near-Earth space, while the GBOs will create mosaics of the
night sky, capturing changes in the northern lights that are an essential
part of the information needed to answer the questions that THEMIS is
targeting. The ground and space-based THEMIS observations will enable
scientists to pinpoint the cause of brilliant explosions of shimmering light
known as "auroral substorms."
"This is a very exciting moment for us because we are expecting to greatly
enhance our understanding of these space disturbances that are both
beautiful and powerful," said U of C physics professor Dr. Eric Donovan,
leader of the Canadian Space Agency-funded component of THEMIS.
"The next few years are going to be very busy for us and our THEMIS
colleagues at NASA and the University of California at Berkeley," Donovan
said.
The U of C operates 16 GBOs located in communities across northern Canada
(four more in Alaska are operated by Berkeley), which consist of automated
all-sky cameras that use time lapse digital imaging and special optics to
record auroras in the northern skies. The five satellites are on orbits
designed so that they come together in conjunctions over central Canada
every four days. During these conjunctions, the cameras will be used to
determine the onset of auroral substorms, while instruments on the five
satellites will provide measurements of changes in energetic particle
populations and the magnetic field in space. The mission will last at least
two years, during which time the GBOs will record more than 200 million
photographs.
Auroras are caused by the interaction of charged particles from the sun,
also known as the solar wind, with the Earth's magnetic field. Auroral
substorms are the unpredictable bursts in auroral activity that take place
when energy stored in the tail of the magnetic field is released and travel
along magnetic lines to the polar regions where they cause spectacular
displays of iridescent light. These storms are not fully understood and
previous studies have not been able to determine where in the magnetosphere
the energy of the solar wind transforms into explosive auroras. Auroral
substorms have also been linked to disturbances of telecommunications
systems on Earth and damage to satellites.
The NASA-funded THEMIS mission is led by the Space Science Laboratory at the
University of California at Berkeley, while the Canadian component of the
project is funded by the Canadian Space Agency.
In Canada, THEMIS will ultimately involve scientists with from the
Universities of Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Calgary, Athabasca
University, the Canadian Space Agency, and Natural Resources Canada.
Most of the GBOs operate in small communities in the north including
Whitehorse, Inuvik, Sanikiluak, and Gillam. The GBOs are run with the
generous assistance of community volunteers who help monitor and maintain
the equipment.
"Our custodians do a great job of looking after the cameras and playing host
to our project in their communities," said THEMIS Canada deployment and site
manager Mike Greffen. "They are a critical link in a large and important
NASA-CSA mission."
For more information:
* THEMIS project website
http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/themis
* University of Calgary's THEMIS website
http://aurora.phys.ucalgary.ca/themis/
* Canadian Space Agency's THEMIS website
http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/sciences/themis.asp
* NASA website
http://www.nasa.gov
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