CALGARY - Canada's profile on international space missions is about to get a heavenly boost.
The University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge announced Friday that they are forming Canada's first Institute for Space Imaging Science.
Russ Taylor, head of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary, said the new institute will combine their expertise on space research and develop new imaging tools to be used on space equipment such as satellites.
That will help researchers study a wide range of space phenomena -- from the northern lights to potentially harmful asteroids near Earth.
"I see major new opportunities for Canada to be involved in space missions, to put satellites up in space to observe the solar system, the Earth's environment and the universe," said Taylor.
While the universities have each worked on other international space projects, this will be the first time they've agreed to collaborate.
One of the institute's goals is to put satellites in space to study the Earth's magnetic field and how it captures and transmits energy from explosions on the sun -- a phenomenon that creates the northern lights and affects global navigation instruments.
"The magnetic field around the Earth is what protects us from what we call space weather," said Taylor. "If it weren't for the magnetic field around the Earth, we'd be fried here on the ground, so it's an important thing to understand."
Each university has already made strides on its own. For example, Alan Hildebrand, who holds the Canada planetary science research chair at the U of C's geoscience department, is involved in the launch of a satellite next year that will search the inner solar system for asteroids. The school is also working with other universities around the world in developing the largest radio telescope ever built.
Chris Nicol, dean of arts and science at the University of Lethbridge, said scientists there will watch one of their creations blast into space in April. The European Space Agency is launching the Herschel Space Observatory, a space telescope that some say will surpass the ability of the Hubble telescope.
The infrared sensors it will carry will help the telescope probe some of the coldest, most distant places in the universe.
"This is one of the most significant space science missions in the past 15 to 20 years, and Canada has been involved in it from the start." Nicol said.
Bringing scientists and engineers at both institutions together is a way to provide what Nicol called "one-stop shopping" for international space agencies.
It's also a way to try to get long-term funding, including from the Canadian government.
"There are long time lines associated with these (projects), so you've got to get long-term commitments from governments and space agencies to support these things," Nicol said. "The bigger the group you have, and the more successful the group you have, the better chance you have of maintaining your group over the long term."
Bob Este, the institute's business development officer, said some of the research at the University of Calgary for the radio telescope could have commercial potential for things such as military communications.
It's significant that the projects are happening on the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first efforts to examine the night sky, said Sara Poirier, a researcher in astronomy and space sciences with the Ontario Science Centre.
"Space imaging is incredibly important. Everything we know about the universe today is the result of these technologies that allow us to capture and study the incoming light from all of these objects that are out there," she said.
Unlike hundreds of years ago, when telescopes were first developed, scientists today can look at light from across the electromagnetic spectrum and see images that they could never see before, Poirier explained.
Images of the Earth gathered from space can also help to monitor environmental problems and climate change.
And when Canada partners on big space projects such as the space observatory, Canadian scientists get time on the telescopes to collect date for their own research, Poirier pointed out.
"So this actually will pay out to a much broader field in astronomy and space sciences for a lot of astronomers in Canada."
