The Dynamic SunLecture 10
The Dynamic Sun
• Solar rotation with sunspots http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sunturn.htm
• CME eruption http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/cmes.htm
• Rotating Sun in X-rays http://www.solarviews.com/cap/sun/sxt.htm
• Dynamics of coronal loops http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/loops.htm
Solar Events of Last October and November
“The Day the Sun Went Wild”: Largest Flares Since the Space Age
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
The Flare of November 4, 2003
If directed at Earth, would have
damaged system of geosynchronous
satellites. Radiation would
have killed astronauts in interplanetary
space
The Stars“e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle”
Last words of Dante’s Inferno
The Stars are other Suns
Or…the Sun is the closest star
Basic Questions about Stars
• How far away are they?
• How hot are they?
• How massive are they
• What are they made of?
• Do they have planets too?
16 Cygni
Most Basic Method of Stellar Distance Determination
Trigonometric parallax: an ordinary surveying technique
Figure 16.1 of textbook
DEMO
Next time:
• How far away are the stars (compared to solar system distances)?
• What units do we use to describe their distances?
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