One of the most satisfying Norfolk Island Effects that you can enjoy is to wander up to the top of Mount Pitt and Mount Bates and gaze around.
The 360 degree circle of the horizon that is before your eyes is unforgettable. Try it at either dawn or sunset and it is even more of a spectacle. And this is the time of day something special was noticed.
To appreciate this story, we need to go back in time to understand what happened up here on 27 March 1945. On this day, Flight Officer Hepburn of the Royal New Zealand Air Force who was in charge of the radar station on Mount Bates (placed to warn of aircraft in the area) noticed increased radiation recordings at sunrise and sunset.
All this was possible due to a pioneering scientist in the 1920’s called Karl Jansky……
Back in 1928 a young physicist named Karl Jansky was hired by Bell Labs to work on a new technology called "radio telephony". In those days radio telephone service was on the cutting edge, and there were many unsolved problems. Trans-Atlantic telephone connections suffered from myriad forms of interference including static from lightning and car engines. A phenomenon called "magnetic storms" could disrupt service for days. Jansky, who had very little experience in radio engineering was given the task of studying trans-Atlantic radio interference. In 1930 he began work on an antenna and by 1931 he was making regular observations of radio static at a frequency of 20.5 MHz.
Jansky was an amateur astronomer and understood that the interference came from a fixed point in the sky – it moved with the stars, hence its source was from space.
Thus radio astronomy was born in 1931.
This gave astronomers a new way of looking at the universe, but the idea that radio astronomy could contribute significantly to the understanding of the universe only emerged during the 1950s. This was as a result of advances in radio communication science during and immediately after World War Two.
Between 1939 and 1945 scientists in Germany, England, the United States, Australia and New Zealand independently detected radio waves coming from the Sun, but because of security issues these discoveries were largely kept secret until after the war.
Between 27 March and 1 April 1945, a large increase in "radio noise" was noted by operators of a 200 MHz Royal New Zealand Air Force radar unit located right here on Mount Bates. Flight Office Hepburn is credited with the first discovery. This increase only occurred within half an hour of the rising or setting of the Sun.
Unknown at the time, this interference coincided with sunspot activity which was a well-known phenomenon.
Dr Elizabeth Alexander, a government scientist with the New Zealand Radio Development Board, was assigned to investigate this phenomenon, which was dubbed the "Norfolk Island Effect".
Subsequent study at various locations demonstrated to Alexander that "... the Norfolk Island effect was significant and was connected with radiation from the sun ...".
Take your time to stroll and investigate the area.
The fact that we know little about “The Norfolk Island Effect” and the important historical role that the radar station here at Mount Bates played is surprising. The ruins of the radar station are still here. The amount of intactness of some of the pieces is remarkable, and most other stations of this type around the world have disappeared.
All of the bits and pieces are not obvious. Some are. A lot of the infrastructure has since disappeared and been reclaimed by nature or useful bits were put to better use around the island.
At GZ, you will notice a familiar bit of infrastructure that would have been an essential bit of any such establishment. The Norfolk Island Effect may have been talked about here, but in an entirely different context! Remember that there were up to 300 service persons in this area. These people lived in huts around the radar.
If you venture down near the sweet shop area, check out the Norfolk Island branch of the Commonwealth of Au Bureau of Meteorology Ionospheric Prediction Service (http://www.ips.gov.au/ ) – a waypoint added to the page and a few photos of the antenna. This pings space every hour and listens to see what happens! Disturbances in the ionosphere (about 60km up) can adversely effect radio communications (ie, TV, AM/FM radio, short wave) and can even influence electricity transmission. It is therefore important to be able to predict disturbances.
Be careful not to stare at the sun or glance at it through a telescope. It will cause permanent blindness. Instead, use your radio to tune in to Radio Norfolk which also broadcasts in the MHz band. Will solar maximum be an issue? Will the next solar storm give you some hiss?
Stay tuned……………..