Our Magnetic Sun and its Effects on Earth

1. Our Magnetic Sun and its Effects on Earth Dr. E.J. Zita(zita@evergreen.edu) The Evergreen State College Women in Science Symposium 12 April 2006, TESC Chemistry Club This work was supported by NASA's  Sun-Earth Connection Guest Investigator Program, NRA 00-OSS-01 SEC

2. Energy flows out of the Sun

3. Magnetic fields channel energy flow

4. h T l Magnetic waves heat the Sun’s atmosphere to millions of degrees

5. Magnetic sunspots → solar flares

6. Solar outbursts → auroral effects

7. What causes cycles of solar magnetism?

8. photosphere tachocline Sun’s magnetic field flips ↑ ↑

9. Solar magnetic activity → solar atmosphere heating → warmer Earth? • Solar max: more sunspots • Strong, twisted B fields • Magnetic tearing releases energy and radiation  • Cell phone disruption • Bright, widespread aurorae • Solar flares, prominences, and coronal mass ejections • Global warming? • next solar max around 2011

10. Friis-Christensen & Lassen (1991) Lean & Rind (2002) Lean & Rind (2001) Does solar variability change Earth’s climate?

11. Other factors affecting Earth’s climate Fire & Water, Fall 2006

12. What does the future hold? Global warming? Ice age? More extreme weather!

13. Acknowledgements We thank the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for hosting our summer visits; computing staff at Evergreen for setting up Linux boxes with IDL in the Computer Applications Lab and Physics homeroom; and NASA and NSF for funding this research. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

14. References • Song, N., Zita, E.J., McDonald, E., Dikpati, M., “Influence of depth-dependent magnetic diffusivity on poloidal field evolution in the Sun,” 2005, Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific • Bogdan, T.J., Carlsson, M, Hansteen, V., McMurray, A, Rosenthal, C.S., Johnson, M., Petty-Powell, S., Zita, E.J., Stein, R.F., McIntosh, S.W., Nordlund, Å. 2003, “Waves in the magnetized solar atmosphere II”, ApJ 597 • Bogdan, T.J., Rosenthal, C.S., Carlsson, M, Hansteen, V., McMurray, A, Zita, E.J., Johnson, M.; Petty-Powell, S., McIntosh, S.W., Nordlund, Å., Stein, R.F., and Dorch, S.B.F. 2002, “Waves in magnetic flux concentrations: The critical role of mode mixing and interference,” Astron. Nachr. 323, 196 • Canfield, R.C., Hudson, H.S., McKenzie, D.E. 1999, “Sigmoidal morphology and eruptive solar activity,” Geophysical Research Letters, 26, 627 • * Noah Heller, E.J. Zita, 2002, “Chromospheric UV oscillations: frequency spectra in network and internetwork regions” • * Matt Johnson, Sara Petty-Powell, E.J. Zita, 2001, “Energy Transport by MHD waves above the photosphere” • B.C. Low, 1988, Astrophysical Journal 330, 992 • * Zita, E.J. 2002, “Magnetic waves in sheared field regions” • HAO = High Altitude Observatory: http://www.hao.ucar.edu • NCAR= National Center for Atmospheric Research: http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/ncar/ • Montana St. Univ., http://solar.physics.montana.edu/canfield/ • SOHO = Solar Heliospheric Observatory: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ • SUMER = Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation: http://www.linmpi.mpg.de/english/projekte/sumer/ • Papers online: http://academic.evergreen.edu/z/zita/research.htm (zita@evergreen.edu)

15. Sources of figures Shindell et al. (http://www.people.virginia.edu/%7Emem6u/ssmrw02.html) Robert Stewart (http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/NMEA_Talk/NMEA_Talk_2004.html) ETE team (http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/coralreef/CRatmo.html) Judith Lean and David Rind, Sun-Climate Connections: Earth's Response to a Variable Sun, Science, Vol 292, Issue 5515, 234-236 (2001) Friis-Christensen, E.; Lassen, K., Science, 254, 698-700 (1991) D. Rind (courtesy of J. Lean), The Sun's Role in Climate Variations Science, Vol 296, Issue 5568, 673-677 (2002) Jada Maxwell’s auroral research: http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/ energy0405/students/jada/ auroral_waves.htm

16. Sources of figures … The Earth Institute, Columbia University (http://www.earth.columbia.edu/news/2005/images/conveyor_belt.gi) Atelier Changement Climatique, ENPC (http://www.enpc.fr/fr/formations/ecole_virt/trav-eleves/cc/cc0304/cycle-carbone/cycle-carbone.htm) Richard Dewey, UVic, BC (http://web.uvic.ca/~rdewey/eos110/webimages.html) Scott Rutherford, Roger Williams Univ., RI, Milankovitch Cycles in Paleoclimate, (http://deschutes.gso.uri.edu/~rutherfo/milankovitch.html) E.J. Zita, solar physics research at Evergreen and HAO/NCAR http://academic.evergreen.edu/z/zita/research.htm, http://www.hao.ucar.edu/

17. Sources of figures … NOAA News: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s412.htm Arthropolis: http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-ice-age-2.htm daftanddemented.moonfruit.com/storms Wilcox Solar Observatory: http://quake.stanford.edu/~wso/wso.html NASA Solar Physics – Marshall Institute – Greenwich Observatory: http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/greenwch.htm Bjorn Jorgensen, 18 January 2005, near Tromsø, Norway http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2005/17jan05/Jorgensen1.jpg Tom Michalik - http://faculty.rmwc.edu/tmichalik/solarwind.htm