The train driver in the courtyard

Mount Wilson Observatory is located on Mount Wilson near Pasadena, California.

This is a holy place for world astronomy, attracting countless astronomy enthusiasts to visit every day.

It was pitch black outside and the tourists had long since dispersed, but the lights on the second floor of the observatory's dome building were still on.

Under the light, Professor Hooke was still sitting at his desk looking over the observation results.

There is an unwritten saying in the astronomical community: the more casually a scholar dresses, the higher his academic achievements.

Professor Hooke took this statement to the extreme.

His suit was covered in coffee stains, there was half a dead leaf stuck to his collar, his hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and there were even a few breakfast crumbs on his unshaven chin.

You have to know that it was already late at night, and God knows how he managed to survive the whole day on two slices of bread.

As an authority in astronomy, Professor Hooke has turned this batch of observation data into wrinkles.

At this moment he picked up the information again, trying to catch a hint of abnormality from it.

In the end, they were disappointed to find that the data was almost completely consistent with previous observations from the Mount Wilson Observatory.

For an astronomer, there is nothing more frustrating than repeating observations that offer nothing new.

Even if he could see sunspots heading towards the Earth and humanity having only a few minutes to survive, he would still cheer and applaud.

As the saying goes, if you hear the truth in the morning, you can die in the evening.

As such an academic fanatic, such a result is undoubtedly the biggest blow to him.

“Perhaps we should suggest that NASA launch a solar probe immediately.”

“Maybe we should invest tens of millions more dollars and install a 400-foot telescope.”

"Maybe."

Snapped!
The door was pushed open from the outside and a young professor walked in hurriedly.

"Professor John, how many times have I told you that we astronomers are elegant and should behave like aristocrats? Look at you..."

Professor John looked at the coat on Hook and could not associate him with a nobleman at all.

But at this time, Professor John didn't care about that anymore and said loudly: "Someone has observed the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection."

"What!" Professor Hooke, who was about to explain the relationship between astronomy and royal aristocracy, completely forgot what aristocracy was and stood up suddenly.

His expression at this moment was just like someone who was about to win over his girlfriend but was stolen away by someone else.

"Which observatory is it? John Bull's or Gallican's?"

Seeing that Professor John had a strange expression and was hesitant to speak, Professor Hook couldn't help but take a breath and said, "Could it be the Russians? Although their conditions are average, they have the advantage of strength in numbers and a group of outstanding talents."

Most of the observatories in the west are independent. Even the Wilson Observatory only has one main station and five astronomical telescopes.

The Russians' astronomical telescopes are of low quality.

The Russian General Administration of Hydrology and Meteorology had a brilliant idea and adopted a group attack tactic.

Ionospheric observation agencies have been established in Murmansk, Western Siberia, Uzbekistan, and the Far East Hydrometeorological Station, forming a huge source of information. There are a total of 17 solar and radio astronomical observatories.

The person in charge of these tasks was the famous Orlov.

His discovery of the theory of the occasional part of solar radio radiation makes him a top-notch scientist in the Russian and even international astronomical community.

It's not shameful to lose to the Russians, right?
Professor Hook had already accepted the fact that his object had been taken away from him.

At this time, Professor John's words made him stunned again.

"It's the Jinling Observatory of the University of Tokyo."

"What?" Professor Hooker was surprised after making sure he heard correctly, "Jinling Observatory, the one with only an old Zeiss telescope?"

Professor John also found it incredible: "It was them. The report from the Jinling Observatory has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal.

The expert panel of The Astrophysical Journal is reviewing it. This was revealed to me by an editor friend. Professor, I hope you don’t…”

Professor John originally intended to advise Hook not to disclose the source of the information, but Professor Hook could not wait to pick up the phone and call the journal.

"I, Hook, need that report from Dongda, now!"

"Snapped!"

Professor Hook hung up the phone without waiting for the other party to answer, thought for a moment, and picked up the phone again.

"Don't send it over. I'll go there myself."

"Snapped!"

Hang up the phone again.

That majestic aura and that domineering attitude.

If Li Aiguo were here, he would definitely give him a thumbs up and call him "The King of Force".

Professor Hooker is indeed qualified.

Soon after joining the observatory, he used the 100-foot telescope to help Hubble discover evidence that the Andromeda Nebula was an external galaxy.

This discovery broke the static cosmological model at the time, which believed that the Milky Way was the center of the universe.

Professor Hooke presided over the observation work of the Solar Tower and had many famous observation results. He was known as the successor of Hale, the father of solar observation.

Hooke is also known as the Einstein of astronomy.

So much so that when Einstein visited the Wilson Observatory, he specifically sought out Professor Hooke.

The two compared themselves, and Einstein thought his beard was bigger.

Stop talking.

Closer to home.

Professor Hook stood up and was about to go outside. Professor John looked at the time and it was almost dawn.

He wanted to stop it, but considering Professor Hook's character, he had to give up.

Professor Hook walked to the door, suddenly stopped, pointed at Professor John and said, "Come with me."

"How do we get there?" John saw that Professor Hook looked a little crazy, so he had to muster up the courage to remind him, "Sir, it's midnight now, should we wait until tomorrow morning?"

“I can’t wait to witness one of astronomy’s greatest moments.”

Professor Hook strode towards the car: "The flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles will take off in three hours, dear Professor John, if you don't want to miss it again, get on the seat as soon as possible."

It was more than 400 kilometers from here to Sacramento, and we had to get there within three hours, and we had to cross an uninhabited area in the dark night. Crazy, Professor Hook must be crazy.

However, Professor John still obediently opened the car door, sat in the passenger seat, and carefully fastened his seat belt.

Because he knew that if he hesitated for a moment, Professor Hook would not mind raising his big leather shoe and kicking him into the car.

"Let's go!" The car whizzed away. Professor John grabbed the handrail above, his face pale with fear.

Professor Hook's driving skills are as good as his temper, and the journey was safe and sound.

When the car arrived at the airport, Professor John was dragged into the airport by Professor Hook, who had gone into a frenzy, before he had time to squat on the side of the road to vomit.

First he took a car, then a plane, and then a car again. Professor Hooke managed to arrive at the door of the Astrophysical Journal thousands of kilometers away before ten o'clock.

The editor-in-chief of The Astrophysical Journal looked at the dusty guy in front of him and couldn't help but take a step back.

If this guy wasn't white, he would really look like the originator of zero-dollar shopping.

After looking him up and down with a frown on his brow and recognizing Professor Hook, the editor-in-chief's attitude suddenly became respectful.

“Dear Professor Hooke, it is a great honor for us to have you here at The Astrophysical Journal.”

Professor Hook grabbed both of his hands and said, "Where's the report?"

The editor-in-chief's hands were clenched so hard that they hurt. He quickly called an editor and sent the report to the office.

"We have already conducted a preliminary review and found no problems. However, as you know, we must be cautious with such a major discovery. We are planning to..."

Before he finished speaking, the report was snatched into Professor John's hands.

Reconnection reverse flow was observed around 08:10 UT
Seeing this, Professor Hook's face turned red and his hands holding the report began to tremble.

These phenomena are the external manifestations of magnetic reconnection.

at last.

Finally discovered by humans!

Humanity's research on the sun took a step forward with this discovery.

Professor Hook took a few deep breaths, calmed himself, and focused on the report again.

That’s not right. The report just now only occupies a small half of the content. What is the rest?

Is it more important than the discovery just now?
Professor Hook looked at it with great curiosity.

“This is the entire process of the phenomenon that was observed.

Next, we will analyze the causes of magnetic reconnection.”

Reason! When Professor Hook saw these two words, his heart skipped a beat.

Due to the lack of observation methods and the inability to directly observe astronomical phenomena, astronomers often know what they are but not why they are.

There is no way to get a perfect physical explanation for most astronomical phenomena, and we can only speculate on their causes.

This has also become a regret in the hearts of astronomers.

"Let me see how you speculate on the mysterious magnetic reconnection phenomenon."

Professor Hook pushed up the frame of his glasses on his nose and looked carefully.

Plasma is mostly made up of electrons and protons that are separated from each other, which means it conducts electricity.

Therefore, the electric field can push these charged particles along the electric lines, generating electric current.

Magnetic fields also exert a force on such charged particles, causing them to spiral around the magnetic field lines.

At this point, magnetic reconnection occurs on the surface of the sun.

Professor Hook stood there with the report in his hand.

Seeing that he had not taken any action, the editor-in-chief asked, "Mr. Professor, how is this report?"

Professor Hook looked up at him and said, "I was wrong. I thought this was a small step for mankind to explore the sun, but I didn't expect it to be a big step, and the most important step."

The editor-in-chief frowned slightly and said, "The discovery of magnetic reconnection is indeed the most important astronomical discovery in recent years. But, are you exaggerating?"

Professor Hooke tapped his fingers on the report. "Didn't you notice? The focus of this report is in the second half. The author used mathematics and physical logic to explain the cause of magnetic reconnection. This alone is worth five solar-circling observatories."

The editor-in-chief also became excited at this time.

The publication of such an important report by The Astrophysical Journal will greatly enhance its reputation in the academic community.

"Mr. Professor, can you serve as a recommender for this report?"

"my pleasure."

Professor Hook then remembered that he didn't know who wrote the paper.

I turned to the last page and saw a line of words.

Unit: Jinling Observatory.

The first author is Li Aiguo, the second author is Professor Huang Deshen, and the third author is Researcher Qi Deming and Researcher Zhou Zeshan.
Readers who often publish academic papers in international journals know that the most important contributor is the first author.

Professor Hook subconsciously ignored the name behind it and fixed his eyes on the three words "Li Aiguo".

He was stunned for a long time, scratched his head and said: "I think I have seen this name somewhere before?"

The editor-in-chief nodded and said, "The Oriental man who proved the Poincare conjecture a while ago seemed to have the same name. Could it be a coincidence?"

Oriental names are already rare in international academic journals, and now there are duplicate names, which is a bit strange.

At this time, a young editor raised his hand and said, "I just contacted the Jinling Observatory and confirmed that this Li Aiguo is the same Li Aiguo who came up with the mathematical proof."

Professor Hooke's eyes widened: "The most important astronomical discovery was taken away by a mathematician?!"

The editor raised his hand again: "The data shows that Li Aiguo is a train driver."

"Train driver?" Professor Hook's voice seemed to be squeezed out from deep in his chest.

He suddenly laughed out loud, "Oh my God, a train driver found the key to magnetic reconnection on the surface of the sun!"

He loosened his tie suddenly and turned to look at Professor John: "Professor John, once the magnetic reconnection is announced, it will definitely cause a stir in the astronomical community. Our observatory will hold an academic seminar in conjunction with the journal.

Please send an invitation letter to Mr. Li Aiguo in the name of the Observatory immediately. I urgently need to meet this train driver."

(End of this chapter)