Master’s student Peter Ribbens (center) and undergraduate Megan Soll pose in Embry‑Riddle’s Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab (SAIL), with payloads to be launched on high-altitude balloons. (Photo: Embry‑Riddle/Bernard Wilchusky)Embry‑Riddle/Bernard Wilchusky)
Perturbations During an Eclipse During an eclipse, however, these perturbations happen more quickly and within the specific region where the eclipse reaches its peak. The resulting disturbance churns up atmospheric waves. “Think of the ionosphere as the surface of a pond,” Barjatya suggests. “There are already ripples happening. Now, imagine a motorboat suddenly ripping through that water. The boat creates waves all around it. The water level dips, below and right behind it, and then rises above the background level for a brief time as it rushes back in. That’s what an eclipse does to the ionosphere, except in three dimensions.” When viewed through protective glasses on Earth, a solar eclipse may seem to be serene, but in fact, the event propels a shadow at speeds up to 1,100 miles per hour. All that energy rocks the atmosphere, potentially affecting communications with satellites that move through the ionosphere. Given the accelerating pace of space enterprise and exploration, Barjatya noted, “We need to understand and therefore model all perturbations and irregularities in the ionosphere.”
Shown with (from right): Ph.D. student Nathan Graves, master’s students Jonas Rowan, Peter Ribbens and Joshua Milford; and research scientists Dr. Robert Clayton and Shantanab Debchoudhury. Seated are undergraduate
students Megan Soll and Johnathan Bizzano. (Photo: Embry‑Riddle/Bernard Wilchusky)
THIS STORY WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY GINGER PINHOLSTER WITH EMBRY-RIDDLE’S NEWS TEAM.
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