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24-08-2018
Parker Solar Probe makes a star of Richard Fallows
| Submitter: | Frank Nuijens |
| Description: | "On Saturday 11 August the Parker Solar Probe will be launched by NASA. Will the employees at ASTRON watch the launch on a big screen, cheering it on?" The Communications team gets the most diverse questions. This particular one came from a journalist of RTL Nieuws, the national news broadcast. My answer was: "Probably not, but let me check and get back to you." As it turns out, Richard Fallows has observing time on LOFAR to co-observe the solar activity as the Solar Probe orbits the Sun. RTL Nieuws thought this was an interesting alternative to a launch-watching party and interviewed Richard. The news broadcast was watched by almost 750,000 people and can be viewed on https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/uitzendingen/rtl-nieuws-1930-uur-1791 (from 12:58). Unfortunately the reporter didn't have the time to include Richard's quotes on his work with LOFAR in the report. As Richard is on holiday, I asked Pietro Zucca to explain what LOFAR will do: The combination of in-situ spacecraft measurements and ground-based remote-sensing observations of coronal and heliospheric plasma parameters is extremely useful for space-weather studies. Ground-based observations can be used to infer a global picture of the inner heliosphere, providing the essential context into which in-situ measurements from spacecraft can be placed. Conversely, remote-sensing observations usually contain information from extended lines of sight, with some deconvolution and modelling necessary to build up a three-dimensional (3-D) picture. Precise spacecraft measurements, when calibrated, can provide ground truth to constrain these models. Up until now, spacecraft have rarely travelled very close to the Sun. The launch over the next couple of years of two dedicated solar missions represents the first opportunity in 40 years to directly combine remote-sensing observations of the solar corona and inner heliosphere with in-situ measurements close-in to the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) launched this August 2018, with Solar Orbiter currently scheduled not earlier than February 2020. |
| Copyright: | RTL Nieuws/Frank Nuijens |
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