Canada is a Leader in Space

Professor from Calgary talks about his research

Studying the northern lights just might give scientists insight into the working of the universe, and David Knudsen came to Kwantlen Polytechnic University to tell students all about it.

Knudsen is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary. On March 17, he gave a talk at the Richmond campus about his research into the aurora.

“You see pictures of the aurora everywhere, and there are descriptions all around. Yet, one thing people don’t realize is that it’s a real mystery,” says Knudsen. “We encountered the aurora 100 kilometres above the surface of the Earth, but as soon as we get there, they’re unexplained.”

Knudsen has spent the past 20 years or so developing the technology to study auroras with more sophistication.

“My research has been the development of what you could call a charged particle camera,” he says. “Instead of taking images in light, I collect charged particles and look at the pattern they make, try to understand how they got their energy and where they come from and how they work together to make the northern lights.”

According to Knudsen, the auroras such as the northern lights are especially important to study, as they might give us insight into the workings of the universe.

“It’s our best opportunity to measure plasmas—charged particle gasses which make up the vast majority of the universe,” he says. “So we can sort of see what happens in the universe up close by sending probes up, and that’s what my research has been.”

In addition to lecturing about his research into auroras, Knudsen also said it’s important for people to realize how integral Canada has been to the exploration of space.

“Canada got into the space game early and has been an active participant through the years,” he says. “We’ve had a surprising amount of missions way back from the beginning.”

There were some interesting points of Canadian history regarding space study Knudsen pointed out. Canada was the third country in the world to build a satellite.

It was a Canadian and an American who developed the Charged Coupled Device. This is a device that moves electrical charges in electrical devices to an area where the charge is manipulated. These devices are “in all digital cameras and in all your smartphones.”

This invention was created in 1969, and the inventors received a Nobel prize for it.

While Knudsen talked about many things at his lecture, there was one thing he really wanted students to leave with.

“Canada is a space leader,” he says. “We have a heritage that goes back to the very beginning of the space age, it continues forward, and there are opportunities to continue for exploration of space in Canada.”