Archive for the ‘Space’ Category
Sun Science and Satellites
Science is revealing timely information about us and our relationship to the sun. More far reaching and useful than the current media ‘debate’ on climate change, which rarely touches on actual science of the sun. As the prime source of life in our solar system, greater knowledge of the sun will provide clues to our past, our present and our future. Expanding the ‘climate change’ ‘debate’ to include the living cycle of the sun may dispel myths and provide more useful solutions.
Space weather is my first port of call when checking in on the sun. It provides clear solar metrics effecting weather, climate and living organisms that are exposed to the great variations in solar radiation. Proton charged radioactive solar wind, travelling in excess of 500 kilometers per second, buffets our magnetosphere daily and a small percentage of this solar input penetrates our atmosphere via weak points in the protective shield emanating from our planet. Nasa science measured and mapped the paths of entry of these winds and its of immense interest to governments world wide, particularly those with investments in satellite communication technology. To get a sense and feel for the force of these energies visit and listen to the ‘lions roar’ courtesy of NASA or view the image below from the University of Oregon which explains this phenomena graphically:
You will now see that there is far more to our planet than just an atmosphere, earth is contained in a protective bubble (magnetosphere) and at certain times radiation and materials within the solar wind penetrate the shields, much like air or fumes entering a moving car from gaps or cracks at the rear. For much of the time this is of little consequence, but when solar activity begins we are subject to additional solar radiation having at times a dramatic effect on our climate, state of being and modern radio frequency communications equipment. The dramatic effects of sun cycle changes have been noted over the course of history, but it was Galileo who challenged the church, using mathematics to decisively declare the spots moving (left to right) were in fact sun spots not planetary bodies passing in front of the sun. We now know a lot more about sun cycle activity and have added coronal flares as an additional source of earth bound flotsom generated by the sun. We know the minor sun cycles operate over 11 years and we are more or less between cycles as the flowing fields of plasma begin their next phase of activity. It was noted in February 2008 that a sun spot appeared further north of the equator, indicative of the closure of solar minimum before we return to solar maximum. The last major burst of solar activity arose from sunspot 930 which arrived on December 5 , 2007, lasting for nine days and exposing earth to X class radiation. At the same time that 930 made its debut forest fires across Victoria (Australia) were ignited by electrical storm activity. By mid December Melbourne was cloaked in a thick layer of smoke making it possible (and safe) to view the large sunspot traversing the face of the sun. Despite the known health risks associated with extreme solar radiation, no mention of this sunspot was made by media in relation to this and the bushfire season it beckoned.
Such was the impact of this sunspot the solar X-Ray Imager on board NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite experienced an anomaly possibly related to the X9 flare of December 5. For such reasons NASA and other space agencies have launched a range of missions to investigate the sun, the magnetosphere and the implications for satellite equipment functionality which could very quickly be decommissioned by the sun. The NASA Heliophysics site covers some of the more important missions investigating the sun, including the Japanese led Hinode mission:
Data from the Hinode satellite shows that magnetic waves play a critical role in driving the solar wind into space. Solar winds are hot streams of electrically charged gas ejected from the sun in all directions at speeds of 1.5 million kilometres an hour.
Hinode (formerly known as Solar-B) is a Japanese ISAS mission proposed as a follow-on to the highly successful Japan/US/UK Yohkoh (Solar-A) collaboration. The mission consists of a coordinated set of optical, EUV and X-ray instruments that will study the interaction between the Sun’s magnetic field and its high temperature, ionized atmosphere. The result will be an improved understanding of the mechanisms which give rise to solar magnetic variability and how this variability modulates the total solar output and creates the driving force behind space weather. (Launch Date: 9/23/06)
A better understanding of solar wind could lead to more accurate predictions of such geomagnetic storms before they reach satellites.
The image below illustrates the trajectory paths of another important sun related mission THEMIS:
THEMIS provides answers to critical questions about the origin and phenomenology of solar and Earth magnetosphere interaction, the resultant electrical substorms, effects on space weather, disruptions in ground power grids, and communications. These affect the operation of other space satellites and the lives of humans in the sub-aurora regions on Earth.
As much as we love and depend on our sun it is but one of billions in the cosmos and it is also subject to forces beyond its immediate control but as we learn through NASA and space science we start to get a grip on the reality when we shift our earth perspective to outer space. Examine the nature of how incoming energy effects our planets and life and you will soon realise why it is so important to value to small pocket of space which exists beyond the odds.
Further information:
- Animation of the THEMIS launch and seperation of 5 satellite modules.
- Relative size of objects in our solar system is displayed in this animated graphic, note how earth is soon dwarfed by the size of our sun and then our sun is dwarfed by Arcturus the star at the centre of our galaxy and then Arcturus is dwarfed by Sirius. Our sun is 93 million kilometres away or 10,000 earth diameters.
- A 4.3 Mb MPEG movie showing magnetic features in the photosphere over a 36 day period is available here. These data were obtained with the GONG solar telescope network. The movie illustrates the rotation of the Sun as well as the evolution of the Sun’s magnetic features – including sunspots.http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/surface.shtml
- Dynamic representation of the magnetosphere
- Mystery of northern, southern lights solved
- Severe Space Weather – NASA
Exploring 3D Land with a new vision
My fascination and curiosity for 3D has been re-kindled after viewing the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in digital time series, stereoscopically projected on a silver screen. The Arkaroola resort became a picturesque model of miniature people, cars, buildings, and quivering trees. Suddenly the world became a childs playground again and I wanted to explore more. The Creature From the Black Lagoon the last memorable journey, and then random trips round the globe through the lens of the family Viewmaster. In the seventies I remember exploring Niagra falls and getting drenched by the rain, people apparently doing this for decades:
The New York Sterescopic Society unravels the history of the Viewmaster phenomena:
…which was developed in 1938 by two men, William Gruber and Harold Graves, who bumped into each other and brainstormed the idea at the Oregon Caves National Monument on the south coast before returning to develop the concept in Portland. Although we think of the View-Master as a child’s toy, the 3D Center points out that the familiar circular reels possibly constitute the largest collection of 3D photographs ever compiled, and in 1942, the US military commissioned 5.6 million custom training reels on subjects such as ship identification.
Until the late 1970s, when the company switched to reels made primarily of photographs and paintings, the View-Master stories were told with handmade sculptures, which were then photographed in 3D.
These constitute the “golden age” of the View-Master, and were principally sculpted by Portland resident Joe Liptak. The highlight of the 3D Center’s show is an assembly of Liptak’s original sculptures from his own private collection: Fred Flintstone, Huckleberry Hound, dinosaurs, and assorted creatures are all on view, with their corresponding, eye-popping View-Masters. Aside from being a sweet nostalgic treat, The Magic of View-Master is an engaging refresher course in stereoscopic vision, an informative history lesson about a ubiquitous childhood toy, and yet another thing you can casually brag on Portland for when your friends come in from Des Moines. Portland Mercury
Tim Baier: explores the Flinders Ranges in 3D
Tim Baier: South Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing