an astro-chat with

Professor Don Kurtz

Visiting Professor, School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Lincoln, UK

Friday, 16 June 2023

7:00-8:00 pm

Live online

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Magnetic fields play a large role in stars. In our own Sun “weather” twists and churns the magnetic field to release stupendous amounts of energy, guiding the solar wind, and occasionally blasting Earth with mass ejections. This talk looks at the surface of our Sun in detail to see sunspots, prominences, flares, coronal mass ejections and other magnetic phenomena: Solar weather. The wind from the Sun and ejections from its surface have significant impact on Earth. A big flare on the Sun produces more power than 10 million volcanic explosions the size of Tambora or Krakatoa. Blasts of material can bombard the Earth producing power failures, radio communication disruption and spectacular aurorae. They are potential death for astronauts on missions beyond the van Allen belts, e.g. on the way to the Moon or Mars. We’ll look at solar eclipses, the solar magnetic cycle, the Earth’s magnetosphere, Sun-Earth interactions, aurorae on Earth and other planets. We’ll see why the Sun is not the source of global warming, and we’ll hear about weather on other stars, which is important in our search for life on other planets.

This is our 16th Astro-Chat with our distinguished guest Professor Don Kurtz. The session will include a brief illustrated introduction followed by questions and answers. Members of the public will be able to ask questions in the live-chat. The event is hosted by Professor Andrei Zvelindovsky, Head of the School of Maths & Physics at the University of Lincoln, UK.