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05 November 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
BOOTES-6 telescope station
The BOOTES-6 telescope station captured a South African sighting of the southern lights, a rare atmospheric phenomenon powered by solar activity.

The northern lights, with their vibrant displays of green, pink, and violet hues, have become a famous attraction in Nordic countries. But in early October, a rare sighting of the southern lights – or aurora australis – was reported in South Africa, surprising many.

Prof Pieter Meintjes, Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS), explains that both the northern and southern lights are the result of charged particles from coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the sun, which are captured by Earth’s magnetic field. "The interaction between magnetic fields and charged particles, such as protons and electrons, is very interesting. The magnetic field forces these particles to spiral around the field lines, ultimately guiding them towards the magnetic poles. As these particles enter Earth’s atmosphere, they collide with atmospheric atoms, causing a beautiful glow. The colours of the aurora indicate which atoms are involved. Typically, hydrogen shines red, while oxygen and nitrogen produce a greenish-blue tinge," he says.

Observing the southern lights

When the display occurs above the northern magnetic pole, it is called the aurora borealis (northern lights) and can typically be observed over regions such as Alaska, Greenland, and the Nordic countries. Above the southern magnetic pole, it is known as aurora australis (southern lights), usually visible over places such as Antarctica and New Zealand. “In extreme cases – when gigantic mass ejections occurred – it can also be observed in mid-latitudes such as South Africa,” says Prof Meintjes.

This recent and rare South African sighting was also captured by the BOOTES-6 telescope station at Boyden Observatory, located just outside Bloemfontein. According to Prof Meintjes, the telescope station has an all-sky monitor – a camera constantly watching the sky for changes and monitoring, among others, cloud cover to ensure that the telescope is always safe from weather. While the monitor was taking photos of the night sky, Prof Alberto Castro-Tirado, a research professor at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain, picked up the aurora.

The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain, in collaboration with the University College Dublin (UCD), is partnering with the UFS in a research-driven initiative involving the BOOTES-6 telescope station, installed in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a Memorandum of Understanding that was recently renewed for another five years, the UFS and UCD share approximately 30% of the telescope's observing time dedicated to UFS research.

“The DPRT telescope (Dolores Pérez-Ramírez telescope), named after a Spanish astronomer and lecturer at the University of Jaén, contributes significantly to our research, with publications resulting from contributions made by the telescope station and collaborators on gamma-ray bursts, occultations, and transient events co-authored by me and a colleague in the department, Dr Hendrik van Heerden,” notes Prof Meintjes.

Research-driven initiatives

Data from the telescope station is also used for their in-house projects and contributes significantly to the work of their PhD students that will be submitted in the next few years. This includes the PhD work of Helene Szegedi, who uses data from the BOOTES-6 telescope station to study cataclysmic variable systems – compact binaries that erupt regularly. Another PhD student, Joleen Barnard, studies blazar variability under the guidance of Prof Brian van Soelen. Blazars, explains Prof Meintjes, are the core of distant galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. These cosmic jets are pointed towards Earth, but fortunately, they are millions or billions of light years away; otherwise, their impact would be devastating to life on Earth.

News Archive

Winter school for international visitors
2011-07-28

 

Here are, from the left, front: Vinita Verma (India), Gayatai Sharma (India), Ambar Istiyani (Indonesia); back: Frank Nieuwenhuizen (Netherland); Vicky Hölsgens (Netherland) and Dewi Cahya Ambarwati (Indonesia)
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

A group of activists, postgraduate students and staff from civil society organisations are currently visiting our Bloemfontein Campus to discuss issues of diversity and development. The group of 19 people from countries such as India, Indonesia, Uganda, the Netherlands and South Africa are part of the 2011 annual international winter school on Pluralism and Development, which is hosted by our International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice. It is the first time that the winter school is held in South Africa since its launch in 2004.

The first class of the winter school started on 11 July 2011 and participants attend daily lectures where they engage in critical thinking about issues such as sustainable development, identity, reconciliation and pluralism. On Thursday 21 July 2011 our Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Jonathan Jansen presented a lecture on reconciliation to participants where he spoke lengthily about South Africa’s traumatic past. Classes will come to an end on 5 August 2011.

During their stay at our university participants also visited Gauteng where they spent time at the Apartheid museum, Constitutional Hill and Freedom Park. Later this week they will visit our Qwaqwa Campus.

Indonesian participant, Ms. Dewi Cahya Ambarwati, said she is looking forward to the Qwaqwa visit, where she will show off her traditional dance. Ambarwati said during their visit to Freedom Park, she managed to trace back Indonesian ancestors in the museum’s slavery section. Another participant, Mr. Frank Nieuwenhuizen from the Netherlands, said the winter school is enriching because it makes you realise what it means to deal with differences.

The international Winter School on Pluralism and Development is an initiative of the Kosmopolis Institute of the University of Humanistic Studies, in cooperation with the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos).

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