Matteo Cantiello edited untitled.tex  about 9 years ago

Commit id: 870e06ef51cf0aa451b3f4d9ff1a5d07eacd9059

deletions | additions      

       

\textbf{Where is Svalbard, exactly?}\\  Svalbard is an archipelago situated about half way between continental Norway and the North Pole, and it is an outpost for research and arctic exploration. In Longyearbyen, a little city of about 2000 people, and Svalbard capital, there is UNIS, University Center in Svalbard: this is the world’s northernmost institution for higher education and research.  \textbf{How hard it was to plan your trip?}\\  I knew 2015 was gonna be a busy year for me, due to a combination of science projects, outreach with the \href{http://constellationproject.org}{GalileoMobile Constellation} and other trips.  But this was the chance of a lifetime and I couldn't let it go.  Within a few days after the idea sparked in my head, I had booked flights from New York City to Svalbard. Then I started planning the journey to meet the Sun and the Moon in the same spot of the sky. It was not easy, Svalbard is not exactly human-friendly. A rifle is mandatory if you adventure outside by yourself. You know, in case the polar bears are in a bad mood.  \textbf{Wow! Tell us about those moments during the eclipse}\\  After traveling a long distance and waiting for hours in a sunny - but very cold - morning, I saw the eclipse from the snow-covered valley of Adventalen. This place became an almost extraterrestrial land during the two and a half minutes of darkness, a show that left me in absolute awe. I think \href{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7kVT2kjSDM&list=LLoQE5NCVFOow1KkR63RVs2g&index=1}{this video} is the best way to show you what I saw and what I felt that morning.  \textbf{What kind of science can be done during an Eclipse?}\\  There’s plenty of science to be investigated during an eclipse. One of the most relevant historical examples is the \href{http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1920RSPTA.220..291D}{measurement of the deflection of light by the Sun}, performed by Sir Arthur Eddington in 1919 during a total solar eclipse. Such experiment demonstrated that the sun was indeed deflecting the light, as predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity.  \textbf{What's so special about an Arctic Eclipse?}\\  Well, for example an eclipse at such high latitude gives an excellent opportunity to have measurements of the dayside aurora, which is a relatively common phenomenon at Svalbard.   Aurora, or northern lights, is mostly known for its manifestation during the night at high latitudes, being a consequence of high-energy particles accelerated towards the terrestrial magnetic poles in the nightside of the terrestrial magnetosphere. Nevertheless, some particles are injected by the interplanetary magnetic field also in the dayside Earth magnetospheres, so generating the dayside aurora. Still, the presence of sunlight makes difficult to observe such phenomenon. Observation of dayside aurora have been carried out during the eclipse at \href{http://kho.unis.no}{KHO observatory}, a few kilometers away from Longyearbyen.  However, no northern light was visible with naked eye during the 2015 Svalbard eclipse. The eclipse was, in fact, quite luminous and the sky did not get too dark. The reason being that the Sun was very low - 11 degrees - on the horizon, and the white landscape was scattering large amounts of light. In general the Arctic is full of exciting, fascinating phenomena. Did you know that amazing \href{http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/04/frost-flower-garden.html}{frost flowers} can appear due to the constant freezing and melting of sea ice? I am currently attending interesting seminars and field excursions on the characteristics of snowflakes and the remote sensing of the cryosphere. Arctic science, I feel, will soon provide us with some new insights on the exploration of extraterrestrial worlds.  \textbf{What kind of science do you do when you're not chasing eclipses and running from polar bears?}\\  At the moment my research focuses on exoplanets and the characterization of their magnetic fields. In the past I've been looking into the generation of magnetic fields in stars and galaxies, as well as the physics of northern lights.