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Dinsdag 9 januari 2007 (in samenwerking met de Minnaert-kring)
prof.dr. C.U. Keller (Sterrenkundig Instituut Utrecht SIU, UU)
Space Weather
The Sun provides Earth with a fairly steady stream of light. Intermittently, erupting solar magnetic fields produce enormous amounts of X-rays and radio waves as well as energetic particles that affect satellites and astronauts in space, aircraft on polar routes, communication and electrical power grids, and life on Earth. The conditions on the Sun, in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere that influence space and ground-based systems and life on Earth are collectively known as Space Weather.
I will illustrate the various effects of Space Weather and discuss the physics of solar magnetic fields, which are ultimately responsible for Space Weather and potentially also space climate. Forecasting of Space Weather is still in its infancy, and fundamental questions such as the source of the magnetic field and its 11-year cycle and the instability of these fields in the solar atmosphere have not yet been answered. New instruments on the ground and in space used by solar physicists at Utrecht University will significantly improve forecasting abilities for Space Weather.
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