ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PRESS INFORMATION NOTE

Issued by RAS Press Officers:

Dr Robert Massey
Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 3307 / 4582

Anita Heward
Tel: +44 (0)1483 420904

NATIONAL ASTRONOMY MEETING PRESS ROOM (31 MARCH - 4 APRIL ONLY):
Tel: +44 (0)2890 975262 / 975263 / 975264

NAM 2008
http://nam2008.qub.ac.uk

Royal Astronomical Society
http://www.ras.org.uk

CONTACTS:

Dr Emma Woodfield
Department of Communications Systems
InfoLab21
Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA1 4WA
Tel: +44 (0)1524 510410

Dr Jim Wild (Principal Investigator on Rainbow camera)
Department of Communications Systems
InfoLab21
Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA1 4WA
Tel: +44 (0)1524 510545

EMBARGOED UNTIL 0001 BST, 2 April 2008

Ref.: PN 08/16 (NAM 07)

Magnetic substorms from ground and space

One of the most dynamic events in the interaction between the Sun and the
Earth is a 'substorm', an explosive reshaping of the Earth's outer magnetic
field. To better understand substorms, scientists in Europe and North
America are studying them from space using the Time History of Events and
Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) satellites launched by
NASA in 2007 and from the ground using a network of all-sky cameras. In her
talk on Tuesday 1 April at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast,
University of Lancaster solar-terrestrial scientist Dr Emma Woodfield will
present the first few months of results from the Rainbow cameras newly
installed in southern Iceland that complement this network.

Best seen from within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, the northern and
southern lights (aurora borealis and aurora australis) are the most visible
way in which the Sun affects the upper atmosphere and magnetic field of the
Earth. More severe consequences of the interaction between the Sun and the
Earth include disruption to radio communications, GPS systems and satellite
electronics and overloaded power grids. This has made understanding 'space
weather' a priority for physicists around the world.

Substorms result from a build up of energy deposited by the solar wind into
the near-Earth environment and at their onset there is a dramatic increase
in the intensity and activity of the aurora. The ground-based Rainbow
cameras designed by the University of Calgary, Canada, track rapid changes
in the aurora by taking full colour images of the whole sky through a
fish-eye lens every 6 seconds.

To fully understand the nature of substorms and to distinguish between the
main competing models describing the substorm process there has been a
dramatic increase in the number of these ground instruments across Canada
and the northern United States.  This makes it possible to "join up the
dots", linking what goes on further out in space seen by the THEMIS
satellites with the phenomena observed closer to home. 

Scientists from Lancaster University have now put into place the first of
three cameras that will bridge a gap in coverage between North America and
mainland Europe. The 'Rainbow' camera was installed at a site maintained by
the University of Leicester near Thykkvibaer in southern Iceland in October
2007.

In her talk, Dr Woodfield will present images and movies from the Rainbow
camera showing the dramatic changes in aurora structure following the onset
of a substorm. She is upbeat about the results to date.

"We have had a wonderful first observing season. Now the hard work really
begins as we sift through the data for vital clues to how a substorm really
works."

FURTHER INFORMATION (INCLUDING IMAGES AND MOVIES)

Movies and stills from the Rainbow camera:
   http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/~kavanage/rainbow.htm

Image caption "Rainbow camera image taken from just after substorm onset on
1 February 2008", Image: Dr. James Wild, Lancaster University.

Movie caption "The Rainbow camera images captures a quiet auroral arc
erupting rapidly at substorm onset, 1 February 2008". Movie: Dr. James Wild,
Lancaster University.

* THEMIS mission home page
  http://themis.ssl.berkeley.edu/index.shtml
* THEMIS Public Outreach website
  http://ds9.ssl.berkeley.edu/themis/no_flash.html
* SPEARS group web pages, Lancaster University
  http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Rainbow equipment designed and supplied by the University of Calgary,
Canada.

The Rainbow cameras are installed and maintained by Lancaster University.

The Thykkvibaer site is maintained by the University of Leicester.

The SPEARS (Space Plasma Environment and Radio Science) group at Lancaster
University has a wide range of interests within Solar Terrestrial physics
ranging from producing artificial aurora to understanding the impact of high
speed Solar wind streams.  Like many other groups in the UK the SPEARS group
has been hard hit by the deficit in the Science and Technology Facilities
Council (STFC) budget.

The RAS National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2008) is hosted by Queen's
University Belfast. It is principally sponsored by the RAS and the Science
and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). NAM 2008 is being held together
with the UK Solar Physics (UKSP) and Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and
Solar-Terrestrial (MIST) spring meetings.
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