A new satellite has been launched today that promises to reveal the inner workings of the Earth's 'magnetic shield' that protects us from our Sun's radiation.
The Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is planning to study how the solar wind, a high energy particle stream from our Sun, interacts with the Earth's magnetic environment.
Dr Maria Walach from the Department of Physics at Lancaster University is involved in planning the scientific analysis of the satellite data. She researches the coupling between the solar wind, the magnetosphere, and the upper atmosphere, which underpins our ability to predict space weather and protect the infrastructure it threatens.
She said: "SMILE will provide us with a unique opportunity to see and measure how Earth's magnetic environment responds to the solar wind from the Sun. It will be able to measure X-Rays created at the boundary between Earth's magnetic environment and the solar wind, which is something we have never been able to do before so this incredibly exciting.
"At the same time, it will give us a global look of the aurora, which we haven't had since 2005. Together this provides us with an exciting opportunity to gain new scientific insights into how geomagnetic storms unfold, which lead to bright auroral displays in places such as Lancaster and across the UK."
SMILE is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) which was launched from Kourou, French Guiana. It will provide the first complete look at how Earth reacts to streams of particles and bursts of radiation from the Sun.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said: "With Smile, we are pushing the boundaries of science in an effort to answer big questions that have remained a mystery since we discovered, over seventy years ago, that Earth sits safely within a giant magnetic bubble."
ESA Smile Project Manager David Agnolon said: "Smile will shed light on the mysteries of Earth's magnetic shield. The mission is made possible thanks to a smooth collaboration between ESA and CAS, with contributions from partners across Europe. It marks the first time that ESA and China have jointly selected, designed, implemented, launched and operated a mission together, and we are all really excited for the major scientific discoveries that we expect to come from Smile over the next three years."
The solar wind travels at a million miles per hour from the Sun towards Earth, which is protected by its magnetic field like a kind of bubble. SMILE is going to image this interaction for several uninterrupted hours at a time and reveal how the protective shield of our magnetic field changes in shape and orientation as the solar wind blows stronger or weaker.
Interactions between the solar wind and the magnetic field are the cause of space weather such as the spectacular displays of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. Space weather also brings potential risks such as radio blackouts, disruptions to satellites and power grid failures
The spacecraft has four instruments, one of which was built in the UK with completely new technology, and this will allow scientists to image X-ray emissions from the Earth's magnetic field on a large scale for the first time. Another instrument will provide global ultraviolet pictures of the aurora for the first time since 2005, and the other two instruments will measure the plasma and magnetic field environment local to the spacecraft.
Dr Walach said: "The SMILE observations will be powerful on their own, but when we combine these observations with ground-based instruments like radar, we unlock something greater. A joined-up view of how the solar wind drives geomagnetic storms across the Earth system. As someone who researches this Sun-Earth connection and space weather, I'm incredibly excited."
