Photo album: "Preparatives to ARAKS"
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The
installation of the instrumentation goes on in the Géophy laboratory. In the
meantime, the scientific teams arrived on November 4th with the
Soviet ship are preparing actively the ARAKS experiment. The objective of the
ARAKS experiment is the study of the terrestrial magnetosphere (i.e. the
magnetic field around the Earth). ARAKS means: Artificial Radiation
and Aurora at Kerguelen and Sogra(*)
(*) Sogra is a town situated
in the Arkhangelsk district, in Russia, inside the magnetically conjugated area
of Kerguelen.
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In front of the Géophy laboratory, CNES (National Center of Spatial Studies) has installed two shelters and an antenna which will be used to receive the information sent by the Eridan rockets during the ARAKS experiment. |
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Inside the Géophy laboratory, the operations of installation and calibration of the instrumentation go on. |
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One of the two nose cones of Eridan rocket. This nose cone will be ejected at a distance of about 10 km in front the rocket to make the measurements. On the rocket there is the electron gun which will inject into the magnetosphere large currents of high energy electrons |
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Inside the nose cone of the rocket, the rack containing the French scientific instrumentation. |
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A nose cone is now completely equipped with the different sensors for magnetic and electric measurements. |
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The calibration station which permits, thanks to frame coils generating magnetic fields, to calibrate the instrumentation of the nose cone. |
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On December 8th, aboard a barge, we leave the base to join a Soviet ship where a few members of the French teams have been invited. |
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The Soviet scientific ship Borovici will participate in the ARAKS experiment and will stay in Golf of Morbihan during all its duration. She will have to receive data from the Soviet "Spectre" experiment, embarked in each of the Eridan rockets. |
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 This ship is one of the ships used in the different Soviet spatial experiments to insure the connection with the space vessels. |
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The captain of Borovici welcomes us on our arrival. |
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After having visited the ship (sorry there are no photos!) and having lunch at the captain's table, we are going back towards Port-aux-Français. |
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Arrival in front of the pier of Port-aux-Français. |
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On the evening after dinner, when the weather is fine, we take a walk along the coast of Golf of Morbihan. |
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In December, the days duration are long enough, but much less than at Dumont d'Urville, because we are here at 49 degrees of south latitude (this would correspond to the latitude of northern France, if we were in the northern hemisphere). |
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The sunset rays thread their way through the clouds to illuminate the sea. On the border of the coast, we perceive the giant kelps which grow in Golf of Morbihan waters. |
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The sun, low on the west horizon, disappears behind the clouds. In the southern hemisphere, as well as in the northern horizon, the sun rises up at east and set down at west, but the great difference is that it passes at north at noon. It seems for that reason to be revolving in the sky on a counterclockwise course, instead in the northern hemisphere we see it rotating on a clockwise course. |
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