Lessons from a solar storm chaser | Miho Janvier

Prevoditelj: Sanda L Recezent: Ivana Varga

It is almost the end of the winter,

Skoro je kraj zime

and you've woken up to a cold house,

i probudili ste se u hladnoj kući,

which is weird, because you left the heater on all night.

što je čudno, jer ste grijanje ostavili uključeno tijekom cijele noći.

You turn on the light.

Palite svjetlo.

It's not working.

Ne radi.

Actually, the coffee maker, the TV -- none of them are working.

Zapravo, aparat za kavu, TV, ništa ne radi.

Life outside also seems to have stopped.

Čini se da je i život vani stao.

There are no schools,

Škole ne rade,

most of the businesses are shut,

većina tvrtki više ne radi,

and there are no working trains.

a ni vlakovi ne voze.

This is not the opening scene of a zombie apocalypse movie.

Ovo nije uvodna scena filma o zombi apokalipsi.

This is what happened in March 1989 in the Canadian province of Quebec,

Ovo se dogodilo u ožujku 1989. u kanadskoj provinciji Quebec,

when the power grid lost power.

kada je došlo do prekida opskrbe električnom energijom.

The culprit?

Krivac?

A solar storm.

Solarna oluja.

Solar storms are giant clouds of particles

Solarne oluje su ogromni oblaci čestica

escaping from the Sun from time to time,

koje povremeno odmiču od Sunca

and a constant reminder that we live in the neighborhood of an active star.

i stalni su podsjetnik da živimo u blizini aktivne zvijezde.

And I, as a solar physicist,

Kao solarna fizičarka,

I have a tremendous chance to study these solar storms.

imam sjajnu priliku proučavati ove solarne oluje.

But you see, "solar storm chaser"

Ali, vidite, "osoba koja traga za solarnim olujama"

is not just a cool title.

nije samo zanimanje zvučnog naziva.

My research helps to understand where they come from,

Moje istraživanje pomaže razumjeti odakle one dolaze,

how they behave

kako se ponašaju,

and, in the long run,

a dugoročno

aims to mitigate their effects on human societies,

teži smanjivanju posljedica za ljudsko društvo,

which I'll get to in a second.

na što ću se vratiti uskoro.

At the beginning of the space exploration age 50 years ago only,

Na početku ere istraživanja svemira, prije samo 50 godina,

the probes we sent in space

sonde koje smo poslali u svemir

revealed that the planets in our Solar System

otkrile su da su planeti u našem Sunčevom sustavu

constantly bathe in a stream of particles that are coming from the Sun

neprestano okruženi strujom čestica koje dolaze od Sunca,

and that we call the solar wind.

a što mi zovemo solarni vjetar.

And in the same way that global wind patterns here on Earth

Isto kao što ovdje na Zemlji na kretanje vjetrova

can be affected by hurricanes,

mogu utjecati uragani,

the solar wind is sometimes affected by solar storms

tako i na solarni vjetar utječu solarne oluje,

that I like to call "space hurricanes."

koje volim nazivati "svemirski uragani."

When they arrive at planets,

Kada ti uragani dođu do planeta,

they can perturb the space environment,

oni mogu poremetiti svemirski okoliš,

which in turn creates the northern or southern lights,

što u konačnici stvara sjevernu ili južnu polarnu svjetlost,

for example, here on Earth,

na primjer, ovdje na Zemlji,

but also Saturn

ali i na Saturnu

and also Jupiter.

te Jupiteru.

Luckily, here on Earth,

Srećom, ovdje na Zemlji,

we are protected by our planet's natural shield,

zaštićeni smo prirodnim Zemljinim štitom,

a magnetic bubble that we call the magnetosphere

magnetskim poljem koje zovemo magnetosfera

and that you can see here on the right side.

i koju možete vidjeti ovdje desno.

Nonetheless, solar storms can still be responsible

Ipak, solarne oluje mogu i dalje biti odgovorne

for disrupting satellite telecommunications and operations,

za ometanje satelitskih komunikacija i operacija,

for disrupting navigation systems, such as GPS,

navigacijskih sustava, npr. GPS-a,

as well as electric power transmission.

kao i za prijenos električne struje.

All of these are technologies on which us humans rely more and more.

Na sve se te tehnologije ljudi sve više oslanjaju.

I mean, imagine if you woke up tomorrow without a working cell phone --

Zamislite samo da se sutra probudite i da nemate signala na mobitelu,

no internet on it,

ni interneta,

which means no social media.

što znači, ni društvenih mreža.

I mean, to me that would be worse than the zombie apocalypse.

Za mene bi to bilo gore od zombi apokalipse.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

By constantly monitoring the Sun, though,

Ipak, stalnim promatranjem Sunca,

we now know where the solar storms come from.

sada znamo odakle dolaze solarne oluje.

They come from regions of the Sun

Dolaze s dijelova Sunca

where a tremendous amount of energy is being stored.

gdje je pohranjena ogromna količina energije.

You have an example here,

Ovdje je jedan primjer toga,

as a complex structure hanging above the solar surface,

složena struktura koja visi iznad solarne površine,

just on the verge of erupting.

na samom rubu erupcije.

Unfortunately, we cannot send probes

Nažalost, ne možemo slati sonde

in the scorching hot atmosphere of the Sun,

u užarenu Sunčevu atmosferu,

where temperatures can rise up to around 10 million degrees Kelvin.

gdje temperature mogu narasti i do 10 milijuna stupnjeva Celzijusa.

So what I do is I use computer simulations

Stoga koristim računalne simulacije

in order to analyze but also to predict the behavior of these storms

za analizu, ali i predviđanje ponašanja tih oluja,

when they're just born at the Sun.

kada se pojave na Suncu.

This is only one part of the story, though.

Ipak, to je samo jedan dio priče.

When these solar storms are moving in space,

Kada se te solarne oluje kreću svemirom,

some of them will inevitably encounter space probes

neke će neizbježno naići na svemirske sonde

that we humans have sent in order to explore other worlds.

koje smo mi ljudi poslali kako bismo istražili druge svjetove.

What I mean by other worlds is, for example, planets,

Pod drugim svjetovima mislim, na primjer, na planete

such as Venus or Mercury,

poput Venere i Merkura,

but also objects, such as comets.

ali i objekte poput kometa.

And while these space probes have been made

I dok su te svemirske sonde stvorene

for different scientific endeavors,

zbog različitih znanstvenih nastojanja,

they can also act like tiny cosmic meteorological stations

one se mogu ponašati i kao male svemirske meteorološke postaje

and monitor the evolution of these space storms.

te pratiti razvoj tih svemirskih oluja.

So I, with a group of researchers, gather and analyze this data

Zato s grupom istraživača prikupljam i analiziram te podatke,

coming from different locations of the Solar System.

koji dolaze s raznih lokacija Sunčevog sustava.

And by doing so, my research shows that, actually,

Na taj način, moje istraživanje pokazuje

solar storms have a generic shape,

da solarne oluje imaju generički oblik,

and that this shape evolves as solar storms move away from the Sun.

koji se mijenja kako se oluje odmiču od Sunca.

And you know what?

I znate li što?

This is key for building tools to predict space weather.

Ovo je ključno u izradi alata za predviđanje vremenskih prilika u svemiru.

I would like to leave you with this beautiful image.

Završila bih govor ovom predivnom fotografijom.

This is us here on Earth,

Ovo smo mi na Zemlji,

this pale blue dot.

ova blijeda plava točka.

And while I study the Sun and its storms every day,

I dok svakodnevno proučavam Sunce i njegove oluje,

I will always have a deep love for this beautiful planet --

uvijek ću duboko voljeti ovaj predivan planet,

a pale blue dot indeed,

iako samo blijeda plava točka,

but a pale blue dot with an invisible magnetic shield

ali blijeda plava točka koja ima nevidljivi magnetski štit

that helps to protect us.

koji nas čuva.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)