SWEETS Coordinator

Prof. Dr. Rainer Hippler
Institut für Physik
Universität Greifswald
Felix-Hausdorff-Str.6
17489 Greifswald
Germany

E-mail: Hippler@physik.uni-greifswald.de

Telephone: +49-3834-864780
Telefax: +49-3834-864701

Space Weather Web Quiz all over Europe

SWEETS has organized an online web quiz on space weather. The main quiz winner was invited to watch a rocket launch at the Andoya Rocket Range in Northern Norway in August 2007. Local quiz winners coming from the SWEETS consortium members states of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey were invited to spend a day in the local SWEETS institute to watch and participate in the daily life of a scientist.

Web Quiz Questions

1) Where does Space Weather come from?

   o from the planet Saturn       o from the Sun and stars       o from Sun-grazing comets       o from the Kuiper belt

2) What is the age of the Sun?

   o 100 Million years       o unknown       o 10-12 Billion years       o 4.5-5 Billion years

3) What is the energy source of the Sun?

   o cold fusion of carbohydrates to sugar       o coal burning       o hot fusion of hydrogen to helium       o the energy comes from other stars

4) What is the name of absorption lines in the visible solar spectrum?

   o Fraunhofer lines       o railway tracks       o Planck lines       o emission lines

5) What features can we see on the Sun's visible surface related to space weather activity?

   o hotspots       o ipods       o lightspots       o sunspots

6) What is a space plasma?

   o blood plasma of aliens       o vacuoles nearby Earth       o vacuum strings in the atmosphere of Jupiter       o free, negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions in space (for instance between Earth and Sun or nearby Earth)

7) What kind of clouds from the Sun do we see arriving at the Earth?

   o neutron clouds       o plasma clouds       o clouds of greenhouse gases       o cirrus clouds

8) What is a coronal mass ejection?

   o an eruption of a solar volcano       o slow tides on the sunward facing Earth surface       o a plasma cloud ejected out into the solar corona and interplanetary space       o the mass of the solar corona

9) What are cosmic rays?

   o high energy particles originating from stars of the Milky Way       o light beams travelling through interplanetary space       o X-rays from the Sun       o light spurs from meteorites

10) On average, how long does it take for a coronal mass ejection to travel from the Sun to the Earth?

   o 8 minutes       o 6-12 hours       o 2-4 days       o 1 month

11) What kind of space weather effects may occur to satellites in space?

   o they start to glow       o they emit strong microwave radiation towards the Earth       o interference due to electrical charging of the satellite       o nothing at all

12) What are cosmic ray showers?

   o shower facilities for the astronauts in the International Space Station       o ultra-short laser light pulses       o rain showers on extra-solar planets       o showers of particles produced when cosmic rays interact with the Earth's atmosphere

13) How do we detect cosmic rays at the Earth's surface?

   o double-focusing mirror telescopes       o X-ray telescopes       o muon telescopes and neutron monitors detecting secondary particles caused by interaction of cosmic ray particles with the Earth's atmosphere       o we can only detect cosmic rays from spacecraft measurements

14) Why are flying crew members of airlines affected by space weather?

   o the amount of radiation they are exposed to may increase by a small amount during space weather events       o because they fly through more clouds       o because they see bright flashes during flights that cross very high latitudes       o because long distance flights are not allowed during space weather storms

15) What visible effect can we see in the sky that is related to space weather?

   o meteorite showers       o the red sky during sunset       o noctilucent clouds in polar regions       o aurora borealis/australis

16) Which of the following are space weather effects observed on the ground?

   o increased corrosion of pipelines and electrical power line failures       o a slight increase in the boiling point of water       o a storm tide on the Atlantic ocean cost line       o satellite navigation instruments are able to work more precisely

17) Whereabouts in Europe have electrical power failures recently been caused by space weather?

   o in the Swiss Alps, 1873       o in electrical power cables in the Mediterranean Sea, summer 2006       o in Southern Sweden, 2003       o at the North Pole every year

18) Where was the first European Space Weather Workshop held?

   o the Scandinavian power line association in Stockholm, Sweden       o the European Space Agency at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, The Netherlands       o the Space Weather Observatory in Greifswald, Germany       o the United Institutes for new Space Applications in Torun, Poland

19) What is the heliosphere?

   o the planetary system around the Sun       o the heliosphere is an area centered around the Sun over which the effect of the solar wind extends       o a specific region on Earth, where global warming will become significant       o the trajectory of a satellite from the Earth to the Sun

20) Why do we celebrate the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) in 2007?

   o because we will have a beautiful summer in 2007       o because the Sun will spend longer above the horizon in Scandinavia than during a normal year       o because physicists celebrate 100 years of successful research into the Sun       o the fiftieth anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) will occur in 2007 and this appears to be a good opportunity to communicate new scientific results to world population

21) What are the objectives of the International Heliophysical Year?

   o scientific cooperation between astrophysicists and nuclear physicists       o understanding geophysical, biological and social links between Northern and Southern polar regions       o advancing our understanding of heliophysical processes, continuing the tradition of international research and demonstrating beauty and significance of space and Earth sciences       o to explore future opportunities for manned space missions to other planets

Web Quiz Winners

Main winner

The main quiz winner was invited to observe a rocket launch at the Andoya Rocket Range in Northern Norway in August 2007.

Local winners

Local quiz winners coming from the SWEETS consortium members states of Austria, France, Germany, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey were invited to spend a day in the local SWEETS institute to watch and participate in the daily life of a scientist.

French Web Quiz Winner

The French Web Quiz Winner winner was invited at the Observatoire de Paris at Meudon for an afternoon and at the Observatoire du Pic du Midi for an astronomical night. Four other participants were invited at the Observatoire de Paris (in Paris) for visiting the two exhibitions SWEETS and "Du Soleil à la Terre".

Latvian Web Quiz Winner

The Latvian web quiz winner, Jana Smirnova (right), was happy to visit the Institute of Astronomy of the University of Latvia and the Zander astronomical museum (7 November 2007). She got familiar with with Friedrich Zander, who designed the first liquid-fuelled rocket.

Portuguese Web Quiz Winner

The Portuguese web quiz winner attended the planetarium show, visited the space weather exhibition both in the planetarium and in the bus and was given a copy of the "Space Weather" CD-ROM, a "Space Weather" outreach poster and a copy of the "Star Light" color book. She will also receive a copy of the "Space Weather" DVD.

Slovak Web Quiz Winner

The Slovak local web quiz winner Michal Knapp (Gymnasium Kosice, center) visited the high mountain laboratory of IEP SAS Koisce at Lomnicky stit 2634 m above sea level, discussing with Mgr. Ronald Langer of the laboratory.

Turkish Web Quiz Winner

Welcome of Turkish web quiz winner (left)