Mullard Space Science Laboratory
P R E S S R E L E A S E
10 May 2005
MSSL hosts Solar-B EIS science working group
During May 10th and 11th MSSL will be hosting a workshop attended by scientists from all over the UK, America and Norway. The focus of the meeting is to discuss the Japanese/UK/US solar satellite called Solar-B. |
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The Solar-B mission will study the Sun in amazing detail and is due for launch in August 2006. MSSL is leading the UK team which is building the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). This instrument will look at the thin, but extremely hot, atmosphere of the Sun. Temperatures in this region reach millions of degrees and observations require special telescopes which are able to image the ultraviolet light emitted by the hot gases. Solar-B will be studying the source of spaceweather, the complex interaction between the Sun and the Earth, and it will be monitoring how the Sun's luminosity varies over time. Life on Earth relies on the Sun's radiation and small changes can produce significant effects to the weather |
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During the workshop, the scientists will be devising observing plans that will be carried out following the launch of Solar-B. Precise planning means that excellent data can be collected as soon as the satellite is through it's comissioning phase. LMG. |
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Notes to Editors:
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL
MSSL is situated in Holmbury St Mary between Dorking and Guildford, and is the Space and Climate Physics Department of University College London. The Group moved from London to Holmbury St Mary in 1965 after Holmbury House was purchased with funds donated by the Mullard electronics company. 150 scientists work at MSSL across 5 groups; solar and stellar physics, planetary and plasma physics, astrophysics, detector physics and climate physics. The laboratory houses world-class facilities to design, build and test instrumentation as well as analyse the data taken by the instruments in space.
Contacts
Dr Lucie Green
Mullard Space Science Laboratory
Tel: 01483 204100 (Switchboard)
Email: lmg@mssl.ucl.ac.uk
Martin de la Nougerede
Mullard Space Science Laboratory
Tel 01483 204100 (Switchboard)
Email: mdn@mssl.ucl.ac.uk