Carl Størmer
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Nugget | |
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Number: | 429 |
1st Author: | Hugh HUDSON |
2nd Author: | Lyndsay FLETCHER |
Published: | 15 April 2022 |
Next Nugget: | TBD |
Previous Nugget: | Solar Hard X-rays with Insight |
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Contents |
Introduction
Carl Størmer (1874-1957) followed Kristian Birkeland (subject of an earlier Nugget) in the illustrious history of Norwegian pioneers of heliophysics Both were active during the early years of 20th century Oslo. Figure 1 shows a well-known picture featuring both of them engaged in photographing the aurora (Birkeland taking notes). This led to triangulation that demonstrated the high altitude of the phenomenon, eliminating terrestrial explanations. The mystery here is that this famous photograph seems to have been taken in broad daylight, not the best time to see the aurora.
This Nugget cannot add much to the existing biographies, but will touch on a single scientific item. For those interested in visiting Størmer's final resting place in Oslo's beautiful Vestre Gravlund, you will find him near Birkeland.
The origins of cosmic rays
Størmer solved the difficult mathematical problem of defining the trajectory of a charged particle in a dipole magnetic field. His hope was to be able to trace cosmic rays, as observed at the Earth's surface, back to their celestial origins. This is just the numerical integration of the Lorentz force on a particle of specified energy (or rigidity) as it arrives from infinity and interacts with the dipole.
Conclusion
This concludes our series of RHESSI Nuggets on Norwegian pioneers of heliophysics.
References
[1]
RHESSI Nugget Date | 15 April 2022 + |
RHESSI Nugget First Author | Hugh HUDSON + |
RHESSI Nugget Index | 429 + |
RHESSI Nugget Second Author | Lyndsay FLETCHER + |