15.4 Space weather  (Page 7/20)

NASA’s 3-D Sun: http://3dsun.org/.

NASA Space Weather: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nasa-space-weather/id422621403?mt=8.

Solaris Alpha: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tomoreilly.solarisalpha.

Solar Monitor Pro: http://www.solarmonitor.eu/.

Videos

Journey into the Sun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqKFQ7z0Nuk. 2010 KQED Quest TV Program mostly about the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft, its launch and capabilities, but with good general information on how the Sun works (12:24).

NASA | SDO: Three Years in Three Minutes--With Expert Commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaCG0wAjJSY&src. Video of 3 years of observations of the Sun by the Solar Dynamics Observatory made into a speeded up movie, with commentary by solar physicist Alex Young (5:03).

Our Explosive Sun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI6YGSIJqrE. Video of a 2011 public lecture in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series by Dr. Thomas Berger about solar activity and recent satellite missions to observe and understand it (1:20:22).

Out There Raining Fire: http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003489464/out-there-raining-fire.html?emc=eta1. Nice overview and introduction to the Sun by science reporter Dennis Overbye of the NY Times (2:28)

Space Weather Impacts: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/education-and-outreach. Video from NOAA (2:47); https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBdd8cMH5jFmvVR2sZubIUzBO6JI0Pvx0. Videos from the National Weather Service (four short videos) (14:41).

Space Weather: Storms on the Sun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWsmp4o-qVg. Science bulletin from the American Museum of Natural History, giving the background to what happens on the Sun to cause space weather (6:10).

Sun Storms: http://www.livescience.com/11754-sun-storms-havoc-electronic-world.html. From the Starry Night company about storms from the Sun now and in the past (4:49).

Sunspot Group AR 2339 Crosses the Sun: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150629.html. Short video (with music) animates Solar Dynamics Observatory images of an especially large sunspot group going across the Sun’s face (1:15).

What Happens on the Sun Doesn’t Stay on the Sun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg_gD2-ujCk. From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: introduction to the Sun, space weather, its effects, and how we monitor it (4:56).

Collaborative group activities

1. Have your group make a list of all the ways the Sun personally affects your life on Earth. (Consider the everyday effects as well as the unusual effects due to high solar activity.)
2. Long before the nature of the Sun was fully understood, astronomer (and planet discoverer) William Herschel (1738–1822) proposed that the hot Sun may have a cool interior and may be inhabited. Have your group discuss this proposal and come up with modern arguments against it.
3. We discussed how the migration of Europeans to North America was apparently affected by short-term climate change. If Earth were to become significantly hotter, either because of changes in the Sun or because of greenhouse warming, one effect would be an increase in the rate of melting of the polar ice caps. How would this affect modern civilization?
4. Suppose we experience another Maunder Minimum on Earth, and it is accompanied by a drop in the average temperature like the Little Ice Age in Europe. Have your group discuss how this would affect civilization and international politics. Make a list of the most serious effects that you can think of.
5. Watching sunspots move across the disk of the Sun is one way to show that our star rotates on its axis. Can your group come up with other ways to show the Sun’s rotation?
6. Suppose in the future, we are able to forecast space weather as well as we forecast weather on Earth. And suppose we have a few days of warning that a big solar storm is coming that will overload Earth’s magnetosphere with charged particles and send more ultraviolet and X-rays toward our planet. Have your group discuss what steps we might take to protect our civilization?
7. Have your group members research online to find out what satellites are in space to help astronomers study the Sun. In addition to searching for NASA satellites, you might also check for satellites launched by the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency.
8. Some scientists and engineers are thinking about building a “solar sail”—something that can use the Sun’s wind or energy to propel a spacecraft away from the Sun. The Planetary Society is a nonprofit organization that is trying to get solar sails launched, for example. Have your group do a report on the current state of solar-sail projects and what people are dreaming about for the future.