Nationality Australian | Role Astrophysicist Name Cleo Loi | |
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Known for Mapping plasma tubes in the Earth's atmosphere Notable awards Bok Prize of the Astronomical Society of Australia (2015) | ||
Geointeresting Podcast, Episode 5: Cleo Loi & Steven Tingay
Shyeh Tjing Cleo Loi (born 1991 or 1992) is an Australian astrophysicist and undergraduate at the University of Sydney School of Physics. She is credited with proving the existence of plasma tubes inside the Earth's magnetosphere and extending into the plasmasphere.
Contents
- Geointeresting Podcast Episode 5 Cleo Loi Steven Tingay
- Background
- Plasma tubes
- Honors and Prizes
- References
Background
Loi had been a student at James Ruse Agricultural High School before studying at the University of Sydney as an undergraduate and member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO).
Plasma tubes
While working on her thesis, Loi followed the suspicions of scientists as far back as 60 years ago theorizing the existence of plasma tubes. Loi was the lead researcher on the project, and first to successfully prove their existence using the Murchison Widefield Array. The findings of the study were published in the Geophysical Research Letters.
In June 2015, Dr Tara Murphy of the University of Sydney explained the process by which her undergraduate student, Loi, had used MWA results to determine the existence of plasma channels following the Earth's magnetic field lines. Loi applied visualization techniques to specific data that showed distortions in positions for distant point sources, explaining the distortion by the existence of tubular structures along the field lines. Dividing the MWA data into a 'stereo' set from several MWA sources allowed the height of the tubes to be determined. They are believed to be, or are related to, "whistler ducts".
Honors and Prizes
Ms Loi won the Astronomical Society of Australia and Australian Academy of Science's 2015 Bok Prize for her plasma tube research.
