1 / 12

Astronomy at Evergreen, 2003

Astronomy at Evergreen, 2003. an update from Dr. E.J. Zita (zita@evergreen.edu) Wed.8 Jan. 2003 at SPSCC, 8:00 pm for the Southwest Washington Astronomical Society (SWWAS). Studying the Sun. 3-year NASA grant colleagues at High Altitude Observatory, Boulder students study the Sun

tammy
Download Presentation

Astronomy at Evergreen, 2003

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Astronomy at Evergreen, 2003 an update from Dr. E.J. Zita (zita@evergreen.edu) Wed.8 Jan. 2003 at SPSCC, 8:00 pm for the Southwest Washington Astronomical Society (SWWAS)

  2. Studying the Sun • 3-year NASA grant • colleagues at High Altitude Observatory, Boulder • students study the Sun • Zita calculates equations • Magnetic fields heat the solar atmosphere • Magnetic outbursts affect Earth

  3. Magnetic dynamics heat the Sun Solar atmospheric temperature rises to millions of degrees K!

  4. High Altitude Observatory • Part of the National Center for Atmospheric Research • Boulder, CO • Evergreen students and faculty visit HAO each July • Supercomputer models calculate magnetic waves • Satellite data from TRACE and SOHO

  5. Satellite data: photospheric sound waves become chromospheric magnetic waves SOHO telescope carries SUMER, which measures ultraviolet (UV) light UV is bright where • plasma is hot or where • magnetic field is strong Evergreen Students analyze satellite data with HAO

  6. Supercomputer data: magnetic waves heat the chromosphere Model sound waves near magnetic sunspots. Students write programs to analyze supercomputer data from HAO. Magnetic waves heat the chromosphere.

  7. Zita calculates magnetic waves Observations Schematic Mathematical model x Magnetic energy travels on twisted magnetic field lines. Large twists  explosive release of magnetic energy.

  8. Magnetic outbursts affect Earth Solar Max: • more magnetic sunspots • strong and twisted magnetic fields • magnetic tearing releases energy and radiation • cell phones go out • great Northern Lights • Solar flares, prominences, and coronal mass ejections • Global warming • next peak in about 2011 CME movie

  9. Meanwhile, on the ground... • New little observatory at Evergreen • Fancier observatory in the planning process • Goals: observe the Sun, home for Meade LX-200, serve astronomy students, and welcome the public.s

  10. Let’s observe together: • Spring Astronomy class • Joint star parties? • Share astronomy with local schools (OHS, BH, CHS) • email me: <zita@evergreen.edu>

  11. References NCAR= National Center for Atmospheric Research: http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/ncar/ HAO = High Altitude Observatory: http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/inside/inside.html TESC = The Evergreen State College: http://www.evergreen.edu Dr. E.J. Zita: zita@evergreen.edu, http://192.211.16.13/z/zita/home.htm SOHO = Solar Heliospheric Observatory: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ SUMER = Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation: http://www.linmpi.mpg.de/english/projekte/sumer/

More Related