Our Magnetic Sun and its Effects on Earth

Dr. E.J. Zita (zita@evergreen.edu)The Evergreen State College

Women in Science Symposium12 April 2006, TESC Chemistry Club

This work was supported by NASA's  Sun-Earth Connection Guest Investigator Program, NRA 00-OSS-01 SEC

Energy flows out of the Sun

Magnetic fields channel energy flow

Magnetic waves heat the Sun’s atmosphere to millions of degrees

T h

Magnetic sunspots → solar flares

Solar outbursts → auroral effects

What causes cycles of solar magnetism?

Sun’s magnetic field flips

↑

↑ tachocline

photosphere

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

Does solar variability change Earth’s climate?

Friis-Christensen & Lassen (1991) Lean & Rind (2002) Lean & Rind (2001)

Other factors affecting Earth’s climate

Fire & Water, Fall 2006

What does the future hold?

Global warming? Ice age? More extreme weather!

AcknowledgementsWe 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.

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”

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SOHO = Solar Heliospheric Observatory: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

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Papers online: http://academic.evergreen.edu/z/zita/research.htm (zita@evergreen.edu)

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