Catastrophic collisions have shaped the destiny of the Solar System, and perhaps even humankind.  In 1994, a series of massive explosions occurred on Jupiter after the remnants of a fractured comet plunged into that planet's atmosphere. Dr. Hammel led the Hubble Space Telescope team that tracked these explosions.  When a fresh Jupiter impact site was discovered just 15 years later, Dr. Hammel and her colleagues used Hubble and the Gemini Observatory to determine that this was the result of an errant asteroid. Dr. Hammel will explain what happened on Jupiter during these cosmic collisions.  More importantly, she will explain the implications of such cosmic collisions for us here on Earth.  She will conclude with how AURA’s facilities (Hubble, Gemini, the Blanco telecope’s DECam, and the soon-to-be-completed LSST) will help us predict and prevent catastrophic impacts on Earth.

NASA is discussing "what they want to know next 30 years [science]” and “what it takes to make that happens [technology]” in order to answer the fundamental questions “Are we alone?” and “What is the origin and history of our solar system and extrasolar systems?” under the frame of (i) Discovery and (ii) Exploration of other worlds and cosmos and (iii) Development of necessary technologies. Searching for life and habitable environments outside Earth will be a driving force for many NASA projects. Next 30 years will be the decades of “sample returns” from asteroids and Mars. With the accumulation of scientific knowledge and technology through various missions including the exploration to Mars, NASA is paving a way for human exploration and noticeably shifting its focus to the water world Europa. When James Webb Telescope is put into the orbit in year 2018, it will detect and analyze water, oxygen, methane, ozone, temperature, surface pressure and many more on planets, especially seven exoplanets of TRAPPIST 1 solar system. The close comparative study of exoplanets and water and icy worlds in our solar system is expected as an effort to understand “life and its origin”. NASA will continue to examine the possibility to transform Mars into a habitable environment. This talk is intended to show the big picture under the overarching themes of NASA missions so that audience have a good foundation from which they can nurture their abilities to forecast what NASA and thus the international space exploration community try to achieve and where they will be next 10 years, 20 years, and 30 years.

Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art developed based on the laws of nature, emphasises how 'to conquer the unyielding with the yielding'. The recent observation of star formation shows that gravity, turbulence and magnetic fields may all play a role in star formation. Their detailed interaction, however, is always a topic of controversy due to the difficulties in both observations and simulations, especially when magnetic fields are involved. Is cloud turbulence super- or sub-Alfvenic? Are molecular cloud mass super- or sub-critical? I will review our recent quest of the answers of these central questions in star formation. And how Tai Chi may give us some inspiration.

Low temperature superconducting gravity gradiometer is the most sensitive equipment of measuring gravity. With mechanically levitated test masses and commercial SQUIDs, differential acceleration sensitivity of 10-12 m s-2 Hz-1/2 was demonstrated thirty years ago and is still the highest sensitivity in the world. We are developing an superconducting earthquake early detector using magnetic levitated test masses, differential frequency of which is 0.1Hz and the expected differential acceleration sensitivity is 3×10-14 m s-2 Hz-1/2. Besides detecting earthquake, we are designing an experiment to measure the gravity constant G as precise as 10ppm using the detector. In the future, we will try to demonstrate the key technologies of the new gravitational wave detector, SOGRO, such as low frequency and high quality factor magnetic levitation and so on.

Presently, the number of asteroids is known to be more than 740,000. Asteroids are thought to be the remnants of planetesimals formed in the early solar system, and allow us to study the formation and evolution of the solar system, as well as the origin of life. We performed two kinds of asteroid surveys with the Japanese infrared satellite AKARI. The first one is the mid-infrared survey to construct the size and albedo catalog of 5120 asteroids. Thanks to the 16-month continuous survey, the Asteroid catalog using AKARI, or AcuA, provides a 100% complete data set of all asteroids larger than 20 km, corresponding to more than 98% of the total mass of all asteroids in the main belt region. The second one is the near-infrared spectroscopic survey to search for water on asteroids. In order to explore the existence of water in the present solar system, it is important to investigate the presence of hydrated minerals and/or water ice on asteroids. These water-related materials show absorption features in the 3-micron band, which can only be observed by space-borne telescope without disturbance of atmospheric absorption. We carried out a spectroscopic survey of 66 asteroids with AKARI in the 2.5-5 micron wavelength range. From these observations, it is found that most C-type asteroids have clear absorption features related to hydrated minerals. In this talk, I will present the detail of these AKARI asteroid surveys.

We are entering a new era of astronomical polarimetry, in which new and stringent observational constraints are being placed on the role of magnetic fields in star formation.   In this talk, I will present James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) POL-2 polarimetric observations of the OMC 1 region of the Orion A filament, taken as part of the BISTRO (B-Fields in Star-Forming Region Observations) survey.  I will discuss modifications to the Chandrasekhar-Fermi method which allow estimation of plane-of-sky magnetic field strengths in the presence of a magnetic field showing large-scale, ordered variation, and will derive an estimate of the magnetic field strength in OMC 1.  I will discuss the energetic importance and evolutionary history of the magnetic field in the OMC 1 region, with particular emphasis on the interaction between the magnetic field and the explosive BN/KL outflow.

I will present recent results on the role of the cosmic web in shaping galaxy properties in the GAMA spectroscopic survey in the redshift range  0.03 < z < 0.25. The stellar mass, u - r dust corrected colour and  specific star formation rate (sSFR) of galaxies are analysed as a function of their distances to the 3D cosmic web features, such as nodes, filaments and walls.  Significant mass and type/colour gradients are found for the whole population, with more massive and/or passive  galaxies being located closer to the filament and wall than their less massive and/or star-forming counterparts. The red fraction of galaxies  is found to increase when closing in on nodes, and on filaments regardless of the distance to nodes. Similarly, the star-forming population reddens (or lowers its sSFR) at fixed mass when closing in on filament, implying that some quenching takes place. Comparable trends are also found in the state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulation HORIZON-AGN. I will argue that these results suggest that on top of stellar mass and large-scale density, the traceless component of the tides from the anisotropic large-scale environment also shapes galactic properties. I will also show that an extension of excursion theory accounting for filamentary tides provides a qualitative explanation in terms of anisotropic assembly bias, and it also explains the absence of type/colour gradients in the data on smaller, non-linear scales.

The Hyper Supreme-Cam is a gigantic CCD camera attached to the Subaru telescope which consists of 104 chips, providing 1.5 square degrees wide field of view (FOV). The combination of the large aperture of the Subaru together with the wide FOV of the HSC forms the best instrument to search for faint small Solar System bodies. In 2014, the HSC-SSP (Subaru Strategic Program) survey which covers ~1400 square degrees down to ~25 mag was started using a total of 300 nights. Since the researchers from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton Univ. in the US worked on the development and funding for the instrumentation of the HSC, they have a priority to use the HSC-SSP data set, hence made use of the advantages. Although the main purpose of this survey is not planetary science, the team serendipitously discovered quite a large number of Solar System objects including TNOs in the HSC-SSP survey dataset, to measure their colors. The HSC has also been available for researchers outside the team during the open use time of the Subaru telescope. Using the time slots, we found a number of Jupiter Trojans and investigated their size frequency distribution (SFD). Comparing the SFD of the main belt with that of the Jupiter Trojans, we noticed a possible gradual change in the SFD, which might be a clue to the planet migration in the early Solar System. Using the HSC, we also conduct a survey of the planet 9 (P9) in the outer region of the Solar System. I will talk about the progress in this effort.

The Universe evolves hierarchically with small structures merging and falling in to form bigger structures. Due to its proximity, the Local Group (LG) is the best place to witness and study these hierarchical processes in action as evidenced by e.g., the many stellar streams found around the Milky Way (MW) and M31. Stellar systems in the LG have therefore become the benchmark for testing many aspects of cosmological theories. Despite the advances in both observational and theoretical areas in the last decade or so, many fundamental properties (e.g., mass profiles) of the LG and its constituents still remain poorly understood. This is mainly due to the limited information on the transverse motions of stellar systems in the LG. Proper motion (PM) measurements are required to resolve this issue, but this has been technically challenging since the typical motions across the sky are very small. In the past few years, our team has developed a state-of-the-art technique to determine proper motions of resolved stellar systems using multi-epoch HST data. In this talk, I will present results from our HST projects for measuring proper motions of stellar systems in the LG, and discuss how these results are improving our understanding of the LG dynamics. 

The second round of large programs is underway at JCMT with nine new science projects. The programs are currently being observed and promise opportunities for expansion to vital multi-wavelength studies. Results of the first large programs are also now being published and will be presented.

90년대 후반 부터 컴퓨터의 계산 성능 향상과 효율적인 수치 알고리즘들의 등장으로 인해 기존에는 제작이 불가능했던 여러 가지 물리 현상들을 영화 및 애니메이션에서 볼 수 있게 되었습니다. 수치해석을 기본으로 하는 이러한 물리 기반 애니메이션 기법은 현재 영화와 애니메이션에서 없어서는 안될 필수적인 요소가 되었습니다. 본 강연에서는 컴퓨터 그래픽스(Computer Graphics)라는 학문 분야와 특수 시각 효과(VFX)라는 산업 분야에 대해서 간략히 소개하고, 이러한 분야들에서 복잡한 물리 현상을 어떻게 구현하여 시각화하는 지에 대해 소개할 예정입니다. 세부 내용으로는 유체(fluid), 강체(rigid body), 변형체(soft body), 옷(cloth), 머리카락/털(hair/fur)들의 사실적인 움직임을 표현하는데에 있어서 물리가 어떻게 활용되는지에 대해서 다루게 될 예정입니다. 또한, 영화나 다큐멘터리에서 우주를 시각화하는 몇 가지 예제들에 대해서도 제작 과정을 함께 보며 여러 가지 생각과 의견을 교환해 보는 자리를 가져보려고 합니다.

Korea has a prodigious history in astronomy. Many astronomical books were published under Sejong the Great, and to our surprise, one of the books recorded that a concentrated alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn was observed in BC 2467, almost 4500 years ago. Using an astronomical software, we confirmed that this alignment actually happened in BC 2470. The slight difference in time is considered negligible, as it is unclear what kind of calendar was used back then. During the speech, more examples will be given of the ancient observations of the sky, along with how many aspects of traditional Korean culture find their origins in the sky.

Magnetic fields are speculated to affect the collapse dynamics in early star formation to influence the IMF, which may be imprinted in the local metal-poor population. These fields arise by the amplification of primordial fields during the formation of the first (Pop III) and from their feedback. We study the former using MHD simulations with a uniform seed field from  cosmological initial conditions to the formation and supernova of a Pop III star. We find that a weak seed field can be amplified to μG at the density peak and by a factor of 100 around the shell of the supernova shock. We also explored the dynamics of metal-poor mini-halos, enriched by Pop III supernova, in varying metallicities and Lyman-Werner flux to produce a fit for the minimum collapse mass. Furthermore, Pop III stars are significant drivers of reionization at high redshift (z > 10). We use semi-numeric methods including Pop III stars as ionizing sources and calculating an optical depth, τe = 0.0569, consistent with the latest results from Planck. The resulting ionization fields can efficiently model the ionizing UV background in cosmological simulations. These results are essential to building a full MHD simulation of the first galaxies.

Water is the most precious resource for sustaining life and enabling exploration. Consequently, until about a decade ago, exploration of the Moon had been limited to space missions and telescopic observations focused on understanding the geology and space environment of the Moon. It was believed the Moon was essentially dry even though there were strong clues for water ice at the poles from ‘enhanced hydrogen’ measurements by orbital neutron spectros measurements and intriguing anomalous radar scattering signatures within a few polar craters that might suggest ice.  It was the Indian Space Agency mission, Chandrayaan-1, combined with opportunistic observations by the comet mission, Deep Impact, and the Saturnian mission, Cassini, which made seminal discoveries to fundamentally change our understanding of and raised many more questions about what we now know to be a Moon that does indeed contain significant resources of water.   I will discuss some of what has been discovered by these international missions, and what we may learn from upcoming planned and potential missions returning to the Moon including the water ice at the poles, for which there are intriguing theories of origin and evolution.  We now also know the illuminated Moon may be ‘hydrated’ with some type of hydroxyl in its surface that may be ephemeral on a diurnal timescale, which is potential evidence for an active process. I will discuss various lines of evidence and theories supporting and arguing against significant hydration on the Moon and will explore the potential of both the confirmed and inferred ‘water’ deposits as possible resources to sustain human and robotic exploration of the surface.

The European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory has the largest single mirror ever built for a space telescope. At 3.5-metres in diameter the mirror collects long-wavelength radiation from some of the coldest and most distant objects in the Universe. In addition, Herschel is the only space observatory to cover a spectral range from the far infrared to sub-millimetre. I will present new findings from Herschel.

A thermal imager and spectrometer is being investigated for possible construction in the early operation of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).  Combined with the mid-IR adaptive optics (AO) system (MIRAO), the instrument will afford ~15 times higher sensitivity and ~ 4 times better spatial resolution (0.07”) with a greatly improved and stable Strehl ratio at 10um compared to the images delivered by the fast guiding systems of 8m-class telescopes.  Through exploiting the large collecting area of the TMT, a high-dispersion spectros mode unrivaled by other ground- and space-based facilities is planned.  Such capabilities offer the possibility for breakthrough science, as well as ‘workhorse’ observing modes of imaging and low/moderate spectral resolution.  I discuss progress on this instrument concept and especially how it could be used to advance thermal IR observations of AGN.

We present the status of the COsmic BAckground Neutrino Decay search (COBAND) experiment. The signal of the cosmic background neutrino decay is identified as a sharp off at high energy end in a far-infrared region ranging from 15meV to 30meV in the energy spectrum of the photons from the space. The COBAND experiment will be done as rocket and satellite experiments in order to detect the far-infrared photons from the space. For a photon detector of the COBAND experiment, we are developing the Superconducting Tunnel Junction (STJ) detector. We will use a combination of the diffraction grating and the array of Nb/Al-STJ pixels for the rocket experiment, and use Hf-STJ as a micro-calorimeter for the future satellite experiment. The present status of the COBAND experiment is reported in more detail.

 The interaction between stars and their surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) is of critical importance for the evolution of galaxies. In this talk, I will present our investigation of the physical properties and excitation mechanisms of the warm molecular gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). As a pilot study, we focused on N159W, one of the most active star-forming regions in the LMC, and observed the target with the Herschel SPIRE FTS, detecting CO rotational transitions up to CO(12-11). Our radiative transfer analysis on 10 pc scales revealed the presence of very warm (400 K) and moderately dense (1000 cm-3) molecular gas in the LMC for the first time. In combination with other gas and dust tracers, we examined the observed CO line ratios using state-of-the-art models of photodissociation region (PDR) and shock, finding that mechanical heating by low-velocity shocks, rather than ionizing sources (UV photons, X-rays, and cosmic-rays), is the dominant heating source for CO. Finally, I will the talk by presenting future work, which includes our ongoing investigation of the starbursting 30Doradus region.

The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere (75–1000 km in altitude) where atoms and molecules are ionized appreciably and the propagation of electromagnetic waves is significantly affected by the ionization. Important space weather phenomena such as disruption of communication and navigation systems and damage on power transmission lines are caused by the ionosphere, and therefore, accurate knowledge of ionospheric phenomena and their drivers has a vital importance for the mitigation of the impact of space weather on the society. This talk will provide an overview of ionospheric phenomena and their drivers. In Part 1, ionospheric climatology induced by solar radiation and anomalies associated with electrodynamical coupling of plasma and neutral particles will be introduced. Three key elements for understanding ionospheric phenomena are electric fields, neutral winds, and neutral composition. The physical processes underlying these three elements and their application will be explained in Part 2. Various forms of ionospheric disturbances induced by various sources (geomagnetic storms, plasma instability, tropospheric storms, tornadoes, volcanos, earthquakes, and rocket launches) will be presented in Part 3. 

Recent development in string theory has led to the extension of General Relativity, i.e. Stringy Gravity. It postulates the entire closed string massless sector to be geometric and thus gravitational. I will first introduce the mathematical foundation and then discuss the solution to dark matter/energy problems. In terms of R/(MG), i.e. the dimensionless radial variable normalized by mass, Stringy Gravity agrees with General Relativity near infinity, but modifies it at short distance. At far short distance, gravitational force can be even repulsive. These may solve the dark matter and energy problems, as they essentially arise from small R/(MG) observations: far distance divided by much heavier mass.

온도를 낮추고자 하는 이유는 여러 가지가 있다. 미생물의 번식을 막기 위해서, 음식의 장기 보존을 위해서, 식품 가공을 위해서, 식물의 생장을 억제하기 위해서, 부피를 줄여서 보관하는 공간을 절약하기 위해서, 뻘과 같은 질척한 토질에서 굴착을 위한 토목공사를 용이하게 하기 위하여, 피부의 탄성을 좋게 하기 위하여, 물질의 강도를 높이기 위하여, 물질의 전기저항을 줄이기 위하여, 온도를 낮춤으로 나타나는 상변이, 양자현상 현상들을 보기 위하여, 전자기기 등의 잡음을 줄이기 위하여, 물질의 미세 진동을 줄이기 위하여 등등... 이러한 저온을 얻기 위한 기본적 방법은 열전달을 억제하기 위한 대류, 전도, 복사와 같은 기본 조건들을 제어함으로 얻어질 수 있다. 여기에는 물질의 열적 성질에 대한 지식과 온도를 낮춤으로 일어나는 물질의 수축, 그리고 구조적 변형 등 온도변화에 따른 제반 상태에 대한 이해가 필요하다. 국내에서는 초전도 기술의 발전과 응용에 의해 극저온 기술의 발전이 크게 진전하였다. 2000 년대에 들어서면서 대형 초전도자석이 핵심장비인 KSTAR 와 같은 대형 구조물의 극저온 냉각, MRI, 가속기용 초전도 자석 냉각, 고온초전도 선재를 이용한 전력 송전용 케이블의 냉각 등의 개발을 들 수 있으며, 이외에도 반도체 라인에서의 clean vacuum 을 위한 냉각기술, 식품가공 등을 위한 냉동기술,  LNG 의 대량 수송을 위한 액화기술 등을 들 수 있다. 중력파 탐사 등 미세한 신호를 검출하기 위한 실험에서는 검출기 자체의 검출한계를 높이기 위한 노력과 더불어 검출기 및 실험장치에서의 잡음 감소와 검출 한도를 높이기 위하여, 초기에 상온에서의 검출 한계를 극복하기 위해 저온으로 냉각하기 시작하였으며, 극한적으로 양자잡음을 줄이기 위해 ~mK 영역에까지 도달하고자 노력하고 있다. 이와 관련한 냉각기술에 대하여 논의하고자 한다.

I will discuss the central dark matter distribution of dwarf galaxies in the local Universe within 10 Mpc derived using their resolved kinematics from Very Large Array (VLA) HI galaxy surveys in tandem with Spitzer 3.6 micron and optical observations. The degree of the central dark matter concentration of the galaxies quantified by measuring their inner density slopes indicates a mass distribution with a sizeable constant density-core towards the centres of the galaxies. This is in contrast to classical dark-matter-only cosmological simulations where cusp-like dark matter distribution is predicted in the halos. Instead, our results are more in line with shallower slopes found in Lambda CDM simulations of dwarf galaxies in which the effect of baryonic feedback processes is included. I will the talk with the discussion of science cases that I plan to carry out at KASI in order to timely prepare for the upcoming SKA era as well as best exploit the observing facilities currently accessible at KASI.

 Very rapid (100) variability at >1e40 erg/s is nearly unprecedented in our Universe. We have recently discovered a new class of X-ray point sources showing such variability in two nearby galaxies while analyzing archival Chandra and XMM-Newton data. One source is located within a suspected globular cluster of the host galaxy and flared one time, while the other source is located in either a globular cluster of the host galaxy or the core of a stripped dwarf companion galaxy that flared on five occasions over a seven year time span. When not flaring, the sources appear as normal accreting neutron star or black hole X-ray binaries, indicating that the flare event does not significantly disrupt the system. We speculate on the nature of these explosive, yet non-destructive objects.

I shall introduce three new techniques of magnetic field tracing. The first two use Doppler-shifted emission lines and employs the gradients of velocity in order to trace magnetic fields in the diffuse interstellar media as well as to trace regions of star formation associated with the gravitational collapse. The differences between these techniques is that they use different observationally available measures, i.e. the first one uses the velocity centroids and the other uses velocity channel maps. I shall provide the theoretical justification of the use of these measures, its numerical testing as well as the comparison of the directions obtained with the velocity centroid gradients using GALFA HI data and those of magnetic field as traced by Planck as well as 13CO data and far infrared polarimetry. I shall also discuss the third technique which employs the synchrotron intensity gradients that also trace magnetic field and, unlike synchrotron polarization, are insensitive to Faraday rotation. I shall also show its correspondence with the magnetic field tracing by Planck and discuss the synergy of using this technique with synchrotron polarization studies. I shall discuss the big promise of the new techniques both for the star formation and CMB foreground studies. 

Detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from binary black holes (BHs) by Advanced LIGO has opened a new window of astronomical observation. Many conceivable sources such as intermediate-mass BH binaries and white dwarf binaries, as well as stellar-mass BH inspiral, would emit GWs below 10 Hz. It is highly desirable to open a new window in the infrasound frequency band below 10 Hz. A low-frequency tensor detector could be constructed by combining six magnetically levitated superconducting test masses. Seismic noise and Newtonian gravity noise are serious obstacles in constructing terrestrial GW detectors at low frequencies. A tensor detector can reject the near-field Newtonian gravity noise more efficiently. Such a detector is equally sensitive to GWs coming from anywhere in the sky, and is capable of resolving the source direction and wave polarization. I will present a design concept of a new low-frequency detector, named SOGRO, which could reach a strain sensitivity of 10-19-10-21 Hz-1/2 at 0.1-10 Hz. I will discuss ways to mitigate the seismic and Newtonian noise, as well as foreseeable technical challenges and limitations in developing such a detector.

Galaxy evolution is the grandest of all environmental sciences. Just how a galaxy forms and evolves in a given environment is one of the most pressing unanswered questions in astrophysics. This talk will describe plans to address this question through the construction of a new and unrivalled multi-object integral field unit (IFU) spectrograph for the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) called HECTOR. This instrument will make it possible to obtain IFU spectros of unprecedented quality for many tens of thousands of galaxies, that will make it possible to fully understand the physical basis for the diversity of galaxy properties. This will build on the heritage of the very successful but much smaller SAMI survey of ~3,000 galaxies currently being conducted on the AAT. As well as describe the science drivers and hence design requirements for HECTOR, I will also discuss the opportunity for Korea to partner with Australia in the construction of HECTOR and the realisation of its science, something the Australian astronomy community would warmly welcome. 

It is widely believed that magnetic fields play a crucial role for the dynamics of molecular clouds and for the star formation processes. One of the most informative techniques of studying magnetic fields in molecular clouds and protostellar disks is based  on the use of polarized emission arising from magnetically aligned dust. In this talk, I will talk about the Chandrasekhar-Fermi (CF) method, which is a simple and powerful technique to measure magnetic field strength from FIR/sub-mm polarization observations. I will demonstrate that the conventional CF method tends to overestimate the strength of the magnetic field and describe how to correct the tendency. When time permits, I’ll briefly talk about polarized emission from T Tauri disks.

Interstellar nanoparticles, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are believed to play an important role in modern astrophysics. Mid-infrared emission from PAHs is widely used as a tracer of star formation activity. PAHs is also thought to be a leading carrier behind the long-standing mystery of Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs).  In this talk, I will discuss new insights into the crucial importance of interstellar nanoparticles. I will start with a review on anomalous microwave emission (AME) by rapidly spinning nanoparticles, which is a critical challenge for early universe study via cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. Then, I will present a new way to tracing magnetic fields via polarized mid-IR emission from PAHs. Finally, I will discuss future perspectives to study interstellar nanoparticles through multiwavelength observations with Square Kilometer Array and ALMA Band 1.

The substorm is a dissipation process of the energy stored in the magnetotail, causing active auroras in the nightside polar regions. What processes in the magnetotail trigger the substorm is a major issue in magnetospheric research and has been extensively debated for decades. To understand the substorm triggering mechanism, I statistically studied substorm-associated evolution of the near-Earth magnetotail, using more than ten years of plasma, and magnetic and electric field data mainly from the Geotail spacecraft. I also analyzed data from the recent five THEMIS spacecraft. My results revealed the overall morphological picture of substorm-associated magnetotail evolution as well as energy release and transport and clarified that magnetic reconnection in the near-Earth magnetotail plays an essential role in substorm triggering.