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Astronomy 2e

15.4 Space Weather

Astronomy 2e15.4 Space Weather

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Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. 1 Science and the Universe: A Brief Tour
    1. Introduction
    2. 1.1 The Nature of Astronomy
    3. 1.2 The Nature of Science
    4. 1.3 The Laws of Nature
    5. 1.4 Numbers in Astronomy
    6. 1.5 Consequences of Light Travel Time
    7. 1.6 A Tour of the Universe
    8. 1.7 The Universe on the Large Scale
    9. 1.8 The Universe of the Very Small
    10. 1.9 A Conclusion and a Beginning
    11. For Further Exploration
  3. 2 Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 2.1 The Sky Above
    3. 2.2 Ancient Astronomy
    4. 2.3 Astrology and Astronomy
    5. 2.4 The Birth of Modern Astronomy
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  4. 3 Orbits and Gravity
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 3.1 The Laws of Planetary Motion
    3. 3.2 Newton’s Great Synthesis
    4. 3.3 Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation
    5. 3.4 Orbits in the Solar System
    6. 3.5 Motions of Satellites and Spacecraft
    7. 3.6 Gravity with More Than Two Bodies
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  5. 4 Earth, Moon, and Sky
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 4.1 Earth and Sky
    3. 4.2 The Seasons
    4. 4.3 Keeping Time
    5. 4.4 The Calendar
    6. 4.5 Phases and Motions of the Moon
    7. 4.6 Ocean Tides and the Moon
    8. 4.7 Eclipses of the Sun and Moon
    9. Key Terms
    10. Summary
    11. For Further Exploration
    12. Collaborative Group Activities
    13. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  6. 5 Radiation and Spectra
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 5.1 The Behavior of Light
    3. 5.2 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
    4. 5.3 Spectroscopy in Astronomy
    5. 5.4 The Structure of the Atom
    6. 5.5 Formation of Spectral Lines
    7. 5.6 The Doppler Effect
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  7. 6 Astronomical Instruments
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 6.1 Telescopes
    3. 6.2 Telescopes Today
    4. 6.3 Visible-Light Detectors and Instruments
    5. 6.4 Radio Telescopes
    6. 6.5 Observations outside Earth’s Atmosphere
    7. 6.6 The Future of Large Telescopes
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  8. 7 Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 7.1 Overview of Our Planetary System
    3. 7.2 Composition and Structure of Planets
    4. 7.3 Dating Planetary Surfaces
    5. 7.4 Origin of the Solar System
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  9. 8 Earth as a Planet
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 8.1 The Global Perspective
    3. 8.2 Earth’s Crust
    4. 8.3 Earth’s Atmosphere
    5. 8.4 Life, Chemical Evolution, and Climate Change
    6. 8.5 Cosmic Influences on the Evolution of Earth
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. For Further Exploration
    10. Collaborative Group Activities
    11. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  10. 9 Cratered Worlds
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 9.1 General Properties of the Moon
    3. 9.2 The Lunar Surface
    4. 9.3 Impact Craters
    5. 9.4 The Origin of the Moon
    6. 9.5 Mercury
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. For Further Exploration
    10. Collaborative Group Activities
    11. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  11. 10 Earthlike Planets: Venus and Mars
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 10.1 The Nearest Planets: An Overview
    3. 10.2 The Geology of Venus
    4. 10.3 The Massive Atmosphere of Venus
    5. 10.4 The Geology of Mars
    6. 10.5 Water and Life on Mars
    7. 10.6 Divergent Planetary Evolution
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  12. 11 The Giant Planets
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 11.1 Exploring the Outer Planets
    3. 11.2 The Giant Planets
    4. 11.3 Atmospheres of the Giant Planets
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. For Further Exploration
    8. Collaborative Group Activities
    9. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  13. 12 Rings, Moons, and Pluto
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 12.1 Ring and Moon Systems Introduced
    3. 12.2 The Galilean Moons of Jupiter
    4. 12.3 Titan and Triton
    5. 12.4 Pluto and Charon
    6. 12.5 Planetary Rings (and Enceladus)
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. For Further Exploration
    10. Collaborative Group Activities
    11. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  14. 13 Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 13.1 Asteroids
    3. 13.2 Asteroids and Planetary Defense
    4. 13.3 The “Long-Haired” Comets
    5. 13.4 The Origin and Fate of Comets and Related Objects
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  15. 14 Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar System
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 14.1 Meteors
    3. 14.2 Meteorites: Stones from Heaven
    4. 14.3 Formation of the Solar System
    5. 14.4 Comparison with Other Planetary Systems
    6. 14.5 Planetary Evolution
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. For Further Exploration
    10. Collaborative Group Activities
    11. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  16. 15 The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 15.1 The Structure and Composition of the Sun
    3. 15.2 The Solar Cycle
    4. 15.3 Solar Activity above the Photosphere
    5. 15.4 Space Weather
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  17. 16 The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 16.1 Sources of Sunshine: Thermal and Gravitational Energy
    3. 16.2 Mass, Energy, and the Theory of Relativity
    4. 16.3 The Solar Interior: Theory
    5. 16.4 The Solar Interior: Observations
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  18. 17 Analyzing Starlight
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 17.1 The Brightness of Stars
    3. 17.2 Colors of Stars
    4. 17.3 The Spectra of Stars (and Brown Dwarfs)
    5. 17.4 Using Spectra to Measure Stellar Radius, Composition, and Motion
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  19. 18 The Stars: A Celestial Census
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 18.1 A Stellar Census
    3. 18.2 Measuring Stellar Masses
    4. 18.3 Diameters of Stars
    5. 18.4 The H–R Diagram
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  20. 19 Celestial Distances
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 19.1 Fundamental Units of Distance
    3. 19.2 Surveying the Stars
    4. 19.3 Variable Stars: One Key to Cosmic Distances
    5. 19.4 The H–R Diagram and Cosmic Distances
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  21. 20 Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 20.1 The Interstellar Medium
    3. 20.2 Interstellar Gas
    4. 20.3 Cosmic Dust
    5. 20.4 Cosmic Rays
    6. 20.5 The Life Cycle of Cosmic Material
    7. 20.6 Interstellar Matter around the Sun
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  22. 21 The Birth of Stars and the Discovery of Planets outside the Solar System
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 21.1 Star Formation
    3. 21.2 The H–R Diagram and the Study of Stellar Evolution
    4. 21.3 Evidence That Planets Form around Other Stars
    5. 21.4 Planets beyond the Solar System: Search and Discovery
    6. 21.5 Exoplanets Everywhere: What We Are Learning
    7. 21.6 New Perspectives on Planet Formation
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  23. 22 Stars from Adolescence to Old Age
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 22.1 Evolution from the Main Sequence to Red Giants
    3. 22.2 Star Clusters
    4. 22.3 Checking Out the Theory
    5. 22.4 Further Evolution of Stars
    6. 22.5 The Evolution of More Massive Stars
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. For Further Exploration
    10. Collaborative Group Activities
    11. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  24. 23 The Death of Stars
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 23.1 The Death of Low-Mass Stars
    3. 23.2 Evolution of Massive Stars: An Explosive Finish
    4. 23.3 Supernova Observations
    5. 23.4 Pulsars and the Discovery of Neutron Stars
    6. 23.5 The Evolution of Binary Star Systems
    7. 23.6 The Mystery of the Gamma-Ray Bursts
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  25. 24 Black Holes and Curved Spacetime
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 24.1 Introducing General Relativity
    3. 24.2 Spacetime and Gravity
    4. 24.3 Tests of General Relativity
    5. 24.4 Time in General Relativity
    6. 24.5 Black Holes
    7. 24.6 Evidence for Black Holes
    8. 24.7 Gravitational Wave Astronomy
    9. Key Terms
    10. Summary
    11. For Further Exploration
    12. Collaborative Group Activities
    13. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  26. 25 The Milky Way Galaxy
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 25.1 The Architecture of the Galaxy
    3. 25.2 Spiral Structure
    4. 25.3 The Mass of the Galaxy
    5. 25.4 The Center of the Galaxy
    6. 25.5 Stellar Populations in the Galaxy
    7. 25.6 The Formation of the Galaxy
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. For Further Exploration
    11. Collaborative Group Activities
    12. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  27. 26 Galaxies
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 26.1 The Discovery of Galaxies
    3. 26.2 Types of Galaxies
    4. 26.3 Properties of Galaxies
    5. 26.4 The Extragalactic Distance Scale
    6. 26.5 The Expanding Universe
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. For Further Exploration
    10. Collaborative Group Activities
    11. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  28. 27 Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Black Holes
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 27.1 Quasars
    3. 27.2 Supermassive Black Holes: What Quasars Really Are
    4. 27.3 Quasars as Probes of Evolution in the Universe
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. For Further Exploration
    8. Collaborative Group Activities
    9. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  29. 28 The Evolution and Distribution of Galaxies
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 28.1 Observations of Distant Galaxies
    3. 28.2 Galaxy Mergers and Active Galactic Nuclei
    4. 28.3 The Distribution of Galaxies in Space
    5. 28.4 The Challenge of Dark Matter
    6. 28.5 The Formation and Evolution of Galaxies and Structure in the Universe
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. For Further Exploration
    10. Collaborative Group Activities
    11. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  30. 29 The Big Bang
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 29.1 The Age of the Universe
    3. 29.2 A Model of the Universe
    4. 29.3 The Beginning of the Universe
    5. 29.4 The Cosmic Microwave Background
    6. 29.5 What Is the Universe Really Made Of?
    7. 29.6 The Inflationary Universe
    8. 29.7 The Anthropic Principle
    9. Key Terms
    10. Summary
    11. For Further Exploration
    12. Collaborative Group Activities
    13. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  31. 30 Life in the Universe
    1. Thinking Ahead
    2. 30.1 The Cosmic Context for Life
    3. 30.2 Astrobiology
    4. 30.3 Searching for Life beyond Earth
    5. 30.4 The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. For Further Exploration
    9. Collaborative Group Activities
    10. Exercises
      1. Review Questions
      2. Thought Questions
      3. Figuring for Yourself
  32. A | How to Study for an Introductory Astronomy Class
  33. B | Astronomy Websites, Images, and Apps
  34. C | Scientific Notation
  35. D | Units Used in Science
  36. E | Some Useful Constants for Astronomy
  37. F | Physical and Orbital Data for the Planets
  38. G | Selected Moons of the Planets
  39. H | Future Total Eclipses
  40. I | The Nearest Stars, Brown Dwarfs, and White Dwarfs
  41. J | The Brightest Twenty Stars
  42. K | The Chemical Elements
  43. L | The Constellations
  44. M | Star Chart and Sky Event Resources
  45. Index

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Explain what space weather is and how it affects Earth

In the previous sections, we have seen that some of the particles coming off the Sun—either steadily as in the solar wind or in great bursts like CMEs—will reach Earth and its magnetosphere (the zone of magnetic influence that surrounds our planet). As if scientists did not have enough trouble trying to predict weather on Earth, this means that they are now facing the challenge of predicting the effects of solar storms on Earth. This field of research is called space weather; when that weather turns stormy, our technology turns out to be at risk.

With thousands of satellites in orbit, astronauts taking up long-term residence in the International Space Station, millions of people using cell phones, GPS, and wireless communication, and nearly everyone relying on the availability of dependable electrical power, governments are now making major investments in trying to learn how to predict when solar storms will occur and how strongly they will affect Earth.

Some History

What we now study as space weather was first recognized (though not yet understood) in 1859, in what is now known as the Carrington Event. In early September of that year, two amateur astronomers, including Richard Carrington in England, independently observed a solar flare. This was followed a day or two later by a significant solar storm reaching the region of Earth’s magnetic field, which was soon overloaded with charged particles (see Earth as a Planet).

As a result, aurora activity was intense and the northern lights were visible well beyond their normal locations near the poles—as far south as Hawaii and the Caribbean. The glowing lights in the sky were so intense that some people reported getting up in the middle of the night, thinking it must be daylight.

The 1859 solar storm happened at a time when a new technology was beginning to tie people in the United States and some other countries together: the telegraph system. This was a machine and network for sending messages in code through overhead electrical wires (a bit like a very early version of the internet). The charged particles that overwhelmed Earth’s magnetic field descended toward our planet’s surface and affected the wires of the telegraph system. Sparks were seen coming out of exposed wires and out of the telegraph machines in the system’s offices.

The observation of the bright flare that preceded these effects on Earth led to scientific speculation that a connection existed between solar activity and impacts on Earth—this was the beginning of our understanding of what today we call space weather.

Sources of Space Weather

Three solar phenomena—coronal holes, solar flares, and CMEs—account for most of the space weather we experience. Coronal holes allow the solar wind to flow freely away from the Sun, unhindered by solar magnetic fields. When the solar wind reaches Earth, as we saw, it causes Earth’s magnetosphere to contract and then expand after the solar wind passes by. These changes can cause (usually mild) electromagnetic disturbances on Earth.

More serious are solar flares, which shower the upper atmosphere of Earth with X-rays, energetic particles, and intense ultraviolet radiation. The X-rays and ultraviolet radiation can ionize atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere, and the freed electrons can build up a charge on the surface of a spacecraft. When this static charge discharges, it can damage the electronics in the spacecraft—just as you can receive a shock when you walk across a carpet in your stocking feet in a dry climate and then touch a light switch or some other metal object.

Most disruptive are coronal mass ejections. A CME is an erupting bubble of tens of millions of tons of gas blown away from the Sun into space. When this bubble reaches Earth a few days after leaving the Sun, it heats the ionosphere, which expands and reaches farther into space. As a consequence, friction between the atmosphere and spacecraft increases, dragging satellites to lower altitudes.

At the time of a particularly strong flare and CME in March 1989, the system responsible for tracking some 19,000 objects orbiting Earth temporarily lost track of 11,000 of them because their orbits were changed by the expansion of Earth’s atmosphere. During solar maximum, a number of satellites are brought to such a low altitude that they are destroyed by friction with the atmosphere. Both the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station (Figure 15.24) require reboosts to higher altitude so that they can remain in orbit.

An image of the International Space Station floating in front of a portion of the globe of Earth.
Figure 15.24 International Space Station. The International Space Station is seen above Earth, as photographed in 2010 by the departing crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. (credit: NASA)

Solar Storm Damage on Earth

When a CME reaches Earth, it distorts Earth’s magnetic field. Since a changing magnetic field induces electrical current, the CME accelerates electrons, sometimes to very high speeds. These “killer electrons” can penetrate deep into satellites, sometimes destroying their electronics and permanently disabling operation. This has happened with some communications satellites.

Disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field can cause disruptions in communications, especially cell phone and wireless systems. In fact, disruptions can be expected to occur several times a year during solar maximum. Changes in Earth’s magnetic field due to CMEs can also cause surges in power lines large enough to burn out transformers and cause major power outages. For example, in 1989, parts of Montreal and Quebec Province in Canada were without power for up to 9 hours as a result of a major solar storm. Electrical outages due to CMEs are more likely to occur in North America than in Europe because North America is closer to Earth’s magnetic pole, where the currents induced by CMEs are strongest.

Besides changing the orbits of satellites, CMEs can also distort the signals sent by them. These effects can be large enough to reduce the accuracy of GPS-derived positions so that they cannot meet the limits required for airplane systems, which must know their positions to within 160 feet. Such disruptions caused by CMEs have occasionally forced the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict flights for minutes or, in a few cases, even days.

Solar storms also expose astronauts, passengers in high-flying airplanes, and even people on the surface of Earth to increased amounts of radiation. Astronauts, for example, are limited in the total amount of radiation to which they can be exposed during their careers. A single ill-timed solar outburst could end an astronaut’s career. This problem becomes increasingly serious as astronauts spend more time in space. For example, the typical daily dose of radiation aboard the Russian Mir space station was equivalent to about eight chest X-rays. One of the major challenges in planning the human exploration of Mars is devising a way to protect astronauts from high-energy solar radiation.

Advance warning of solar storms would help us minimize their disruptive effects. Power networks could be run at less than their full capacity so that they could absorb the effects of power surges. Communications networks could be prepared for malfunctions and have backup plans in place. Spacewalks could be timed to avoid major solar outbursts. Scientists are now trying to find ways to predict where and when flares and CMEs will occur, and whether they will be big, fast events or small, slow ones with little consequence for Earth.

The strategy is to relate changes in the appearance of small, active regions and changes in local magnetic fields on the Sun to subsequent eruptions. However, right now, our predictive capability is still poor, and so the only real warning we have is from actually seeing CMEs and flares occur. Since a CME travels outward at about 500 kilometers per second, an observation of an eruption provides several days warning at the distance of Earth. However, the severity of the impact on Earth depends on how the magnetic field associated with the CME is oriented relative to Earth’s magnetic field. The orientation can be measured only when the CME flows past a satellite we have put up for this purpose. However, it is located only about an hour upstream from Earth.

Space weather predictions are now available online to scientists and the public. Outlooks are given a week ahead, bulletins are issued when there is an event that is likely to be of interest to the public, and warnings and alerts are posted when an event is imminent or already under way (Figure 15.25).

An image of several seated people in a room with a banner reading “Space weather prediction Center.” At the front of the room a person stands and addresses the seated people.
Figure 15.25 NOAA Space Weather Prediction Operations Center. Bill Murtagh, a space weather forecaster, leads a workshop on preparedness for events like geomagnetic storms. (credit: modification of work by FEMA/Jerry DeFelice)

More satellites are being launched that will allow us to determine whether CMEs are headed toward Earth and how big they are. Models are being developed that will then allow scientists to use early information about the CME to predict its likely impact on Earth.

The hope is that soon, solar weather forecasting will have some of the predictive capability that meteorologists have achieved for terrestrial weather at Earth’s surface. However, the most difficult events to predict are the largest and most damaging storms—hurricanes on Earth and extreme, rare storm events on the Sun. Thus, it is inevitable that the Sun will continue to surprise us.

Example 15.1

The Timing of Solar Events

A basic equation is useful in figuring out when events on the Sun will impact Earth:
distance=velocity×time,orD=v×tdistance=velocity×time,orD=v×t

Dividing both sides by v, we get

T=D/vT=D/v

Suppose you observe a major solar flare while astronauts are orbiting Earth. If the average speed of solar wind is 400 km/s and the distance to the Sun is 1.496×108 km1.496×108 km, how long will it be before the charged particles ejected from the Sun during the flare reach the space station?

Solution

The time required for solar wind particles to reach Earth is T = D/v.
1.496×108km400km/s=3.74×105s,or3.74×105s60s/min×60min/h×24h/d=4.3d1.496×108km400km/s=3.74×105s,or3.74×105s60s/min×60min/h×24h/d=4.3d

Check Your Learning

How many days would it take for the particles to reach Earth if the solar wind speed increased to
500 km/s?

Answer:

1.496×108km500km/s=2.99×105s,or2.99×105s60s/min×60min/h×24h/d=3.46d1.496×108km500km/s=2.99×105s,or2.99×105s60s/min×60min/h×24h/d=3.46d

Earth’s Climate and the Sunspot Cycle: Is There a Connection?

While the Sun rises faithfully every day at a time that can be calculated precisely, scientists have determined that the Sun’s energy output is not truly constant but varies over the centuries by a small amount—probably less than 1%. We’ve seen that the number of sunspots varies, with the time between sunspot maxima of about 11 years, and that the number of sunspots at maximum is not always the same. Considerable evidence shows that between the years 1645 and 1715, the number of sunspots, even at sunspot maximum, was much lower than it is now. This interval of significantly low sunspot numbers was first noted by Gustav Spӧrer in 1887 and then by E. W. Maunder in 1890; it is now called the Maunder Minimum. The variation in the number of sunspots over the past three centuries is shown in Figure 15.26. Besides the Maunder Minimum in the seventeenth century, sunspot numbers were somewhat lower during the first part of the nineteenth century than they are now; this period is called the Little Maunder Minimum.

A graph titled “Monthly Average Sunspot Numbers”. The graph shows the number of sunspots on the y-axis (0 to 400) and the year on the x-axis (1750 to 2000). A scalloped line shows the rise and fall of sunspot numbers throughout the solar cycle.
Figure 15.26 Numbers of Sunspots over Time. This diagram shows how the number of sunspots has changed with time since counts of the numbers of spots began to be recorded on a consistent scale. Note the low number of spots during the early years of the nineteenth century, the Little Maunder Minimum. (credit: modification of work by NASA/ARC)

When the number of sunspots is high, the Sun is active in various other ways as well, and, as we will see in several sections below, some of this activity affects Earth directly. For example, there are more auroral displays when the sunspot number is high. Auroras are caused when energetically charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetosphere, and the Sun is more likely to spew out particles when it is active and the sunspot number is high. Historical accounts also indicate that auroral activity was abnormally low throughout the several decades of the Maunder Minimum.

The Maunder Minimum was a time of exceptionally low temperatures in Europe—so low that this period is described as the Little Ice Age. This coincidence in time caused scientists to try to understand whether small changes in the Sun could affect the climate on Earth. There is clear evidence that it was unusually cold in Europe during part of the seventeenth century. The River Thames in London froze at least 11 times, ice appeared in the oceans off the coasts of southeast England, and low summer temperatures led to short growing seasons and poor harvests. However, whether and how changes on the Sun on this timescale influence Earth’s climate is still a matter of debate among scientists.

Other small changes in climate like the Little Ice Age have occurred and have had their impacts on human history. For example, explorers from Norway first colonized Iceland and then reached Greenland by 986. From there, they were able to make repeated visits to the northeastern coasts of North America, including Newfoundland, between about 1000 and 1350. (The ships of the time did not allow the Norse explorers to travel all the way to North America directly, but only from Greenland, which served as a station for further exploration.)

Most of Greenland is covered by ice, and the Greenland station was never self-sufficient; rather, it depended on imports of food and other goods from Norway for its survival. When a little ice age began in the thirteenth century, voyaging became very difficult, and support of the Greenland colony was no longer possible. The last-known contact with it was made by a ship from Iceland blown off course in 1410. When European ships again began to visit Greenland in 1577, the entire colony there had disappeared.

The estimated dates for these patterns of migration follow what we know about solar activity. Solar activity was unusually high between 1100 and 1250, which includes the time when the first European contacts were made with North America. Activity was low from 1280 to 1340 and there was a little ice age, which was about the time regular contact with North America and between Greenland and Europe stopped.

One must be cautious, however, about assuming that low sunspot numbers or variations in the Sun’s output of energy caused the Little Ice Age. There is no satisfactory model that can explain how a reduction in solar activity might cause cooler temperatures on Earth. An alternative possibility is that the cold weather during the Little Ice Age was related to volcanic activity. Volcanoes can eject aerosols (tiny droplets or particles) into the atmosphere that efficiently reflect sunlight. Observations show, for example, that the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 ejected SO2 aerosols into the atmosphere, which reduced the amount of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface enough to lower global temperatures by 0.4 °C.

Satellite data show that the energy output from the Sun during a solar cycle varies by only about 0.1%. We know of no physical process that would explain how such a small variation could cause global temperature changes. The level of solar activity may, however, have other effects. For example, although the Sun’s total energy output varies by only 0.1% during a solar cycle, its extreme ultraviolet radiation is 10 times higher at times of solar maximum than at solar minimum. This large variation can affect the chemistry and temperature structure of the upper atmosphere. One effect might be a reduction in the ozone layer and a cooling of the stratosphere near Earth’s poles. This, in turn, could change the circulation patterns of winds aloft and, hence, the tracks of storms. There is some recent evidence that variations in regional rainfall correlate better with solar activity than does the global temperature of Earth. But, as you can see, the relationship between what happens on the Sun and what happens to Earth’s climate over the short term is still an area that scientists are investigating and debating.

Whatever the effects of solar activity may be on local rainfall or temperature patterns, we want to emphasize one important idea: Our climate change data and the models developed to account for the data consistently show that solar variability is not the cause of the global warming that has occurred during the past 50 years.

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