(This is part of a serialized novel. Click MENU + Polaris Station to read and comment on latest revisions)
University of California – Santa Barbara
Concept Art for Polaris Station
Dr. Katya Parker pulled back the tinted double-doors and walked into the lab. Her grad students had turned up the volume on her favorite oldie, Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) by Train.
“She’s back in the atmosphere,” her student at the Telemetry console quipped.
Parker grabbed a short hand rail firmly and stepped down and toward the holographic display in the center of the round room. She pushed her fingers like a comb slowly from front to back through her ash blonde hair.
“But tell me,…” She sang quietly. “Did you sail across the sun…”
The bright holographic sun illuminated her gazing brown eyes which scanned each student seated at consoles labeled, Telemetry, Instruments, Spectral, Orbital, and Simulation.
“Any notable observations since I left?”
The spectral analyst leaned back from her monitor. “For the last hour, some twisted solar filament loops are rising slowly suspended in the solar magnetic field.”
“Ah, finally. Some action tonight. Any effect on Venus?”
“Only subtle heating and expansion of the upper ionosphere,” Spectral replied. “But the solar wind is steady.”
Raising her eyebrows Parker said, “I know Friday night research is tough,” she looked around the room with a grin, “But, you could have brought a friend.” Nodding toward Simulation she said to the youngest person in the room. “Dmitry, did I ever tell you about the dates your father and I had at the astronomy lab during…”
“Yah, Mom,” Dmitry said, then corrected himself. “I mean, professor. I’ve heard the story.”
Dmitry, also blonde, was curious, inventive, and a high-school computer genius. The grad students loved it when he accompanied his mother to the lab. He carried a big load running predictive models and managing visualizations.
At UCSB, they were pulling a late-nighter in the well stocked Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics observatory. Thanks to recent public interest and government funding for solar research, the latest technologies consumed all available space.
“Professor, we’re used to odd-hour duty,” the easy-going student sitting at the Instruments console said. “When we chose astronomy, we knew we chose dark rooms, remote mountain tops, and research hours outside our own choosing.”
“Besides,” Spectral added, “When the amazing universe speaks, where else would our astronomy brains want to be?”
Several afternoon hours had already been consumed. The team was characterizing extreme solar radiation reacting with the hellish Venus atmosphere. With pre-scheduled, AI-assisted targeting and remote control, they owned for the rest of the night the twin Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, where it was mid-afternoon. They had pre-approval to stream Inouye Solar Telescope data from Maui if needed. Keck video and numerical data streams flowed across several monitors in the lab.
The observatory was circular with workstations positioned for operator focus toward the center. Orbital got up, looked through several pizza boxes and relieved one of the boxes of a large slice, a string of cheese refusing to break from the box.
“Dr. Parker?” Telemetry remained focused on his monitor. “We’re getting a reading I don’t understand.”
“Astonishing! please enlighten us.”
All eyes turned to Telemetry.
“The predictive model is filtering out effects of all cataloged ephemerides. Based on known orbiting objects… this residual shouldn’t exist…”
“Vhat residual?” Dr. Parker said, this time her slight Russian accent was clear. “Vhat are you talking about?”
Telemetry responded, “A trace amplification arc in the Venus reflective telemetry… I surmise a sizable object approaching the sun.”
“A trace amplification arc?” She asked. “A sizable object?” Dmitry, re-route and intensify the data into the holo-globe,”
All students looked up at the lab’s primary display, a one-point-five-meter diameter glass ball filled with chromatically sensitive gas. An array of variable frequency lasers in the mount excited selective molecules within. A curved line appeared and arched its way through space toward the animated sun.
“Vhat are the factors defining its trajectory?” Dr. Parker asked. “Is the Ephemeris estimator active?
Orbital responded, “Visual triangulation from the twin scopes correlates with the radiation signature. If these readings are correct, the object will intercept the sun.”
“Simulation,” Parker interrupted.
Dmitry looked around the room proudly. “Yes, professor.”
Dr. Parker continued. “Keep streaming the latest data to the sphere. Everyone. Seek confirmation from your perspective and instruments. Let’s have some hypotheses. Run your numbers and report.”
“Dr. Parker,” Orbital called out. “It’s a sun grazer. I did a quick mapping of its trajectory to catalogued objects and until two days ago… It’s trajectory matched P2. It has an orbital period of five years. It passed Earth three weeks ago.”
“But P2…” Dr. Parker countered, “P2 passes the sun at an altitude of about one sun diameter. Are you sure it’s P2?”
“What ever it is,” Dmitry interrupted. “The trajectory extrapolator predicts corona penetration within an hour, if it survives even that long.”
Dr. Parker scratched her head then pointed at Orbital, “But how, when and why did P2 change course?”
“This is no perturbation–it had to be a delta-v event.” Orbital assured. “Objects don’t change perihelion without energy. Something pushed it.”
Several heads turned toward Orbital.
Dr. Parker questioned, “Something pushed it? What about out-casing?” Dr. Parker poseted to stir inquiry. “Could escaping gas be enough for this magnitude of delta-v?”
In the holosphere the object continued in a parabolic arc toward the sun while solar radiation torched it violently hurling a tail of particles away from the sun.
“Instruments,” Parker directed. “Bring in Haleakala! Connect the Inouye Solar Telescope.”
“Of course,” Instruments said. “Accessing Inouye data stream.”
The holographic image of the sun suddenly enhanced in detail and fidelity.
“Increase magnification.” Dr. Parker leaned in toward the globe.
The sun was a brilliant orange with tumultuous waves of red, textured like the human brain, freckled by dark spots here and there. P2 glowed brighter, pushing its way through a shock wave. It suddenly detonated, creating its own fireball.
Moments later, a relatively small sun spot appeared below the explosion, which grew, then imploded and disappeared.
Dr. Parker pointed at the spot while looking at Simulation. “Increase magnification!”
Ripples, like a pebble dropped on a pond, propagated out from the spot increasing and decreasing cyclically until they faded and were gone.
All went quiet in the lab except the playlist.
Then a bright crack opened up on the suns surface and a flaming plume erupted, grew rapidly as though vomiting something it just swallowed. A giant ejection of coronal mass followed.
Spectral called out, “It’s a CME!”
“Zoom out!” Dr. Parker demanded. “Increase field of view to include Earth.”
Dmitry placed his thumb and forefinger on his input pad and slowly moved them toward each other. Earth appeared in the globe opposite the sun.
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Reader comments requested – I appreciate suggestions on clarity, flow, dialogue, characters and engagement. I especially welcome technical subject matter expert discussion. Challenge assumptions and help improve realism and storytelling.