ByKatieWhitman CenterforComputationalHeliophysicsinHawaii(C2H2) http://c2h2.ifa.hawaii.edu Sunspots The first recorded observations of sunspots were made by Chinese astronomers.

s. The two earliest records of sunspot observations are found in a Chinese book, the Book of Changes, dating back to about 800BC or earlier. Much more complete Chineserecordsbeganin165BC. (Source:http://www.cora.nwra.com/~werne/eos/text/galileo.html)

HeliophysicsBackground

HistoryofSolarDiscoveries

Thefirstsunspotdrawingthatstillexists(above)canbefoundinabookcalledthe Chronicles of John of Worcester. The observation dates to 8 December 1128, and shows the sunspot's umbra and penumbra. The accompanying text reads, "...from morningtoevening,appearedsomethingliketwoblackcircleswithinthediskofthe Sun,theoneintheupperpartbeingbigger,theotherinthelowerpartsmaller.As shownonthedrawing." (Source:http://www.cora.nwra.com/~werne/eos/text/galileo.html) Observations of the Sun through telescopes began in 1610. Galileo noticed dark spotsontheSunonemistyeveningatsunsetandbecamecurious.Galileousedthese spotstocalculatetherotationrateoftheSun,comingupwitharotationperiodof about 25 days. Astronomers throughout Europe were doing the same thing with

their telescopes, tracking and recording these dark blotches marring the solar surface.(SunKings,p.28) Butwhatweresunspots?ChristophScheinerfromGermany thoughtthattheyweresilhouettesofundiscoveredplanets. Galileo showed that this could not be true because of the strangewaythatsunspotsmoved.Galileoreasonedthatthis was the behavior of something affixed to the surface of a spinning ball. He could also see sunspots growing and shrinkinginsize,behaviorthatcouldnotbeattributedtoa planet.Theissueofsunspotsandwhattheywereprovoked a somewhat emotional response at the time, as the prevailing belief was that the heavenswereperfectandunchanging,areflectionofGod. Galileothoughttheyweredarkcloudsinthesolaratmosphere,otherastronomers thought that it was dark slag (the leftovers from smelting metal) on the top of a gigantic natural furnace. In the 1700s, Newton wrotethat the Sun and Stars were great Earths vehemently hot. Leading people to think that there was a planet inside the Sun. People then thought that the spots were smoke preceding volcanic eruptions,ormountainrevealedbytheebbandflowoftheSunsfieryoceans. It was difficult to observe the Sun through the telescope, as it was likely an astronomercouldgoblindifnotdoneproperly.Largertelescopefocusedmorelight, evenmakingitharder.WilliamHerschelmadeanunpolishedmirrorthatnaturally scattered light, allowing for his solar telescopes to hold larger mirrors and see higher levels of detail. He saw that Suns surface looked more like an orange peel andthattheblackspotswereactuallydepressionsinthesurface.Thisleadhimto believethattheywereopenings,allowingastronomerstoseethedarksurfaceofthe Sunbelow.(TheSunKings,p.30)HethoughtthattheSunsatmosphereconsisted ofatransparentlayerandabrightlayer.Hedidntknowwhytheatmospheremight glow,buthepointedtotheauroraseenonEarth.HealsothoughttheSunwasrichly stockedwithinhabitants.Healsousedthefactthatmountainclimbersexperienced adropintemperatureastheyincreasedinelevation(closetotheSun)toassertthat theSunwasnotactuallyhot. TheSunisHot Eventually Herschels mind was changed when he tried placing different colors of glassinthelightpathofhistelescopeinanefforttoreducethelight.Henoticedthat red glass stopped most of the light, but made the eye feel intolerable hot. (p. 34) Trying different colors lead him to the realization that not all colors created equal quantities of heat, which was the prevailing belief at the time. Some scientists believedhewasaramblingfool,butafteracontrolledexperimentinwhichHerschel displayed the Suns light on the wall through a prism and measured the temperatures of the different colors (while another thermometer in the room measuredtheambienttemperature),didpeoplebelievehim.Heevenshowedthat thehottestpartofthespectrumwasaninvisibleareanexttotheredcolor.

ImageSource:http://www.rudraveena.org/images/spectrum.jpg

In1814,JosephvonFraunhoferrediscoveredthedarklinesintheSunsspectrum. Inventing the spectral grating in 1823, Fraunhofer cataloged solar spectral lines withgreatprecision(TheSunKingsp.9393).Fraunhoferdiedatjust37yearsold, but John Herschel (son of William Herschel) and William Fox Talbot realized that elements gave off unique spectral patterns. Kirchhoff and Bunsen created pure samplesforflametests.In1859,Kirchhofffiguredoutthatahotsoliddenseobject will give off a continuous spectrum of light (image below); a hot tenuous gas will produce an emission line spectrum; and a hot object with a cooler tenuous gas arounditwillcreateaspectrumwithdarkabsorptionlines.Becausetheyidentified the elements on the Suns surface and it was well known that these metals could only be in a gas form at very high temperatures, the Sun had to be incredibly hot (TheSunKings,p.9597).

ImageSource:https://www.e education.psu.edu/astro801/book/export/html/1549

SolarVariability Going through his records in 1801, Herschel noticed that the number of sunspots seemed to come and go. He looked through scientific journals and identified possibleperiodsoverwhichhesawthisvariability.(TheSunKings,p.36)

TheSunandClimateorHowSunspotsAffecttheSunsTemperature HerschelbecameinterestedintheSunsaffectonclimate.Hedidnthavelongterm solarrecords,buthehadageniusstroketolookatthepriceofwheatasaproxyfor temperatures. Around 1802, he thought that years with many sunspots (when the Sunwassupposedlycooler)wouldhavehigherwheatprices,butheactuallyfound the opposite. (The Sun Kings, p. 37) Herschel then flipped his original idea about sunspot,nowproclaimingthattransparentcloudsofhotgaswerewellingupinthe Sun and the sunspots were the result of this emission. Those in the scientific community either did not listen or chose to criticize and even ridicule him. The Edinborough Review stated that Herschels speculations were all eclipsed by the grand absurdity which he has there committed; in his hasty and erroneous theory concerning the influence of the solar spots on the price of grain. Since the publication of Gullivers voyage to Laputa, nothing so ridiculous has ever been offeredtotheworld. TheBeginningoftheSunEarthMagneticConnection In1802,AlexandervonHumboldtwastravelinginPeru,concernedabouttheeffects thatlandclearingandagriculturehadontheclimate.InVenezuela,hearrivedata community that was wondering why the water levels in their lake were dropping. Humboldt investigated and found that the forests they had been clearing helped trap moisture and increase rainfall. Humboldt was exploring, but he also had the positionoftheEarthsmagneticequator.HemeasuredtheorientationoftheEarths magnetic equator at the geographic equator. Back in Berlin in 1806, Humboldt beganmonitoringthedailymovementofmagneticneedles.Onthe21stofDecember, Humboldt saw his magnetic needles varying wildly and noted that aurora were in thesky.Inthe1740s,HoirtierandCelsiushadobservedthissamephenomenon. In 1827, Humboldt organized a series of magnetic observatories around the globe (p. 52). He convinced Carl Friedrich Gauss to participate in the project. Humboldt alsoworkedwithRussiaandtheBritishEmpire,whichheldlandacrosstheworld. Colonel Edward Sabine was also greatly interested and joined the effort. He tirelessly fought for expeditions to the southern hemisphere. In 1840, magnetic stations were founded at Greenwich, Dublin, Toronto, St. Helena in the South Atlantic, the Cape of Good Hope, Van Diemans Land, Madras, Simla, Bombay, and Singapore.(TheSunKingsp.57) Heinrich Schwabe began observing sunspots every day since 1825. He noticed a patternand,by1843,hadenoughtoseearepeatingpattern(TheSunKings,p.69). Humboldt recognized the importance of being able to predict sunspots and publisheditinhisbookKosmos.SabineswifewastranslatingthisbookandGeorge Sabine noticed the patter immediately. He saw that magnetic storms and sunspot numbersmovedinlockstep.(TheSunKings,p.69)In1852,EdwardSabineshowed that global magnetic fluctuations are synchronized with the Suns 11 year cycle. (TheSun,EarthandSky)

SolarDifferentialRotation RichardCarringtonofEnglandsetuphisownobservatoryatRedhill,Surrey.Hewas an extremely careful observer whose northern star catalog was published by the British admiralty with public funds because of its importance for navigation. Starting in 1853, Carrington applied his detailoriented technique to observing sunspots, trying to determine the Suns rotation period once and for all, since astronomers could not seem to agree on a value,findingsomewherebetween2528 days (The Sun Kings, p. 77). In 1858, Carrington had enough information to show that spots at higher latitudes moved moreslowlythanthoseattheequator.This differentialrotationwasproofthattheSunwasagaseousbodyandnotasolidone. (TheSunKingsp.78) (ImageSource: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/uploads/RTEmagicC_CarringtonObsTN S.jpg.jpg) SolarFlaresandSolarStorms At33yearsold,RichardCarringtonwasobservingsunspotsthroughhistelescopeas usualonSeptember1,1859.HeprojectedtheSunsimageontoawall.Wiresinthe eyepiece cast the shadow of a grid onto the wall. He sketched the sunspots, then timedthemastheycrossedthegridlines.At11:18am,twobrightbeadsofsearing whitelightappearedoveramonstroussunspotgroup(TheSunKings,p.12).Hewas surprised, but then quickly noted the time, checked that this was not a stray reflection, then ran to find a witness. He returned 60 seconds later, but the lights were dimming. They completely vanished at 11:23am. He sketchedthesunspotgroupandflarelocation (Image Source: http://astroguyz.com/wp content/uploads/2009/08/Carrington_Richar d_sunspots_1859.jpg). About 18 hours later, the skies around the world burst into massive auroras, telegraph wires became inoperable, giant sparks or streams of fire flowed from the lines into the equipmentandevenintoonepoorsoulsforehead (though he recovered shortly after) (The Sun Kings, p. 83). The New York Times reported that newsprintcouldbereadbytheaurorallight.The aurora were seen almost everywhere across the globe,evenasfarsouthasKeyWest,theBahamas, and Hawaii. (NY Times article source:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F05E6DB1638E033A25750C0A 96F9C946892D7CF&scp=27&sq=september+3%2C+1859&st=p) Up until now, scientists knew that aurora caused magnetic disturbances, but not much more. The magnetic instruments at the Kew Observatory captured the disturbance of the auroras. September 1st and 2nd showed huge deviations in the Earthsmagneticfield(picturedbelow).(TheSunKings,p.19)

DespiteCarringtonsobservationandtheresponseofKewsmagneticinstruments, astronomerscontinuedtobewaryofthemagneticconnectionbetweentheSunand theEarth.Itwasanalmostunthinkablethoughtthatsuchaforcecouldactoversuch a large distance so quickly. Astronomers of high standing, such as George Airy, discountedthisconnection,keepingdoubtwithinthecommunity. InFebruaryof1892,GeorgeElleryHale,agraduateofMITandlaterfounderofthe American Astronomical Society, was observing the Sun through his home observatory near Chicago. He managed to capture a solar flare over a particularly large group of sunspots on film. The next day, the sky burst into aurora and communicationslinesweredisrupted.(TheSunKings,p.150) In1872,EdwardWalterMaunderwashiredasanassistantattheRoyalObservatory in England. Working under the disapproving eye of Airy, Maunder, who was not universityeducated,wasfascinatedwiththeSun.(TheSunKings,p.129)Afterthe 1892solarstorm,Maunderdecidedthathewouldprovethelinkbetweenmagnetic stormsandsunspotsonceandforall. LordKelvinalsodecidedtobringanendtothiscontroversyonce and for all. Using James Clerk Maxwells new laws, Kelvin calculated the amount of energy that must be required by an explosionontheSuntocausethemagneticeffectsweexperience

ImageSource: http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/images/carrington_images/hex572.jpg

onEarth,93millionmilesaway.Theamountofenergyrequiredintheseflareswas completelyimpossible,inKelvinsreasoning,asitwasequivalenttofourmonthsof regular radiation coming from the Sun. (The Sun Kings, p. 153) In 1892, Kelvin urged scientists to search for the real connection between auroras and magnetic storms,asitwasimpossiblethattheywerecausedbytheSun. (ImageSource:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lord_Kelvin_photograph.jpg) Maunder and other, however, knew that the statistical connection was irrefutable (TheSunKings,p.154). In 1860, Elias Loomis (Yale) mapped out the geographic distribution of aurora, showing that they occurred in an oval that was centered on the North Pole. (Sun, Earth,andSkyp.178)

Birkelandsexperiment1896(above,source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Birkelandterrella.jpg): Birkelanddemonstratedthetheorythatelectronscouldflowalongmagneticfieldto poles by sending an electron beam towards a magnetized sphere painted with phosphorescentlighttoshowwheretheelectronsstruck.Thespherewasenclosed inavacuumtosimulatespace.Theglowingshapesreproducedmanyfeaturesofthe aurora.(Sun,Earth,andSky,p.178) In1903,Maunderandhiswife,Annie,begandiggingthroughsunspotrecordsand magnetic storm data. Maunder finally found the evidence he was looking for. In 1886, four storms separated by 27 days had been recorded. This was the same amountoftimeittookfortheSuntomakeacompleterotation,sweepingthesame solar storm past Earth over and over again. On November 11, 1904, Maunder provided his indisputable proof. Some astronomers questioned what mechanisms couldmakethispossibleandotherscametoMaundersdefense(TheSunKings,p. 162). Larmour came to Maunders defense and said that his mathematics were strong and the the tiny charged particles (electrons) he had been studying could likelybethecarriersofforcebetweentheSunandtheEarth.

Finally, the controversy began to shift. In 1908, Hale made the first detection of strongmagneticfieldsinsunspotsandobserversbecamefamiliarwiththetypeof behavior to look for and the impending magnetic storms that would come the following day. Kelvin and Airys naysaying delayed progress on this front for decades,butfinallytheevidencemadetheSunEarthmagneticconnectionclear. TheCoronaandCMEs ThefirstphotographtakenofatotallyeclipsedSunwasWarren DeLaRue(whohadbeenmakingphotographicobservationsof the Sun for some time) from the Italian city of Rivabellosa on July18,1860.Thephotographclearlyshowssolarprominences archingoverthesolardisk(TheSunKings,p.104108). (Image Source: http://www.britannica.com/bps/media view/141531/1/0/0) InLabrador,astronomerR.N.Asheobservedthesameeclipse.Hewasabrightflash fromonesideofthediskbeforethecloudsclosedin(TheSunKings,p.109).Two hours later, observers in Spain saw what looked like a bubble extending from the Sun. Some astronomers did not notice this bubble, bringing its existence into question,andwhatitmightbewasnotfurtherinvestigated. In 1898, Maunder and his wife, Annie, a female computer hired toworkattheRoyalObservatory, went to Masur, India to photograph an eclipse with Annies camera. On January 22nd, AnnieMaundercapturedthefirst imageoftheSunscoronaonfilm (The Sun Kings, p. 157). Annie calculated that the streamers in the pictures extended 6 million miles into space. (Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_eclipse_1898Jan22photo_wide.png)

ModernViewoftheSun

Sunspots The strongest magnetic fields on the solar surface are found in sunspots, which appear as dark spots on the solar surface when observing in visible wavelengths. InsidetheSunsconvectionzone,magneticfieldsarekinkedandtwistedupbythe motion of convective cells rising to the surface of the Sun and falling down again. Twistingcausesthemagneticfieldstobecomeveryconcentrated,strongandholda lotofenergy.Atthelocationofsunspots,thesetwistedmagneticfieldshaveactually

risentothevisiblesurfaceoftheSun(i.e.photosphere)andarepokingthrough.In these areas, the hot convective bubbles are blocked from reaching the surface, causingthatareatocoolandlookdarkcomparedtosurroundings.However,above sunspots is where flares and CMEs are born. The localized strong magnetic fields that create sunspots interact with plasma in the Suns corona to create explosive events.(http://c2h2.ifa.hawaii.edu/Pages/Education/sun_activity.php) Sunspots are created by magnetic loops that extend above the photosphere. The places where the sunspots form are called the footpoints of the magnetic loops. Because the sunspots are created from magnetic loops, sunspots always come in pairsaspotwherethemagneticfieldisgoinginanupwardandoutwarddirection (a magnetic north pole), and a spot where the magnetic fields loops downwards, backintothesolarsurface(amagneticsouthpole).

In the images below, the left image contains a sunspot group as viewed in visible light. At this level in the Suns atmosphere, the magnetic fields hinder convection, causingtheregioninsidethesunspottoappearcooleranddarker.Theimageonthe right(ImageSource:JHelioviewerimageoftheSunfromFeb.15th,2011),showsthe coronaaboveasunspot.Themagneticloopsabovethesunspotheattheplasmaof thecorona,causingthispartofthesolaratmospheretobecomeveryhotandbright. When the Sun has a lot of sunspots, it is actually a little bit hotter compared to a solardiskdevoidofsunspots. (ImageSource:www.solarphysics.kva.se/gallery/images/2002/c4877_color.gif)

TheSunisHot In the center of the Sun, there is ongoing nuclear fusion of Hydrogen into Helium thatgivestheSunallofitsenergy.Inthecore, the temperature is about 13.6 million Kelvin. Asexpected,thetemperaturedecreasesinthe outer parts of the Sun, reaching its minimum temperature in the photosphere, the visible surfaceoftheSun.Theaveragetemperaturein thephotosphereis5777Kelvin(orabout6000 degrees Celsius). Above the photosphere, the Sun has three more important layers in its atmosphere. The layer just above the photosphereiscalledthechromosphereandit is very, very thin only about 2000 km in height. During a solar eclipse, the chromosphereisseenasaverythinbrightred circlearoundtheSun,givingititsnamewhichliterallymeanscoloredsphere.The chromosphereactuallyincreasesintemperature,goingfrom6000atthebottomto 20,000 Kelvin near the top. Above the chromosphere is another very thin layer calledthetransitionregion.Here,thetemperaturerapidlyincreasesfrom20,000K to1millionKinonly200km.Thecoronabeginsatthetopofthetransitionregion andstretchesmillionsofmilesoutintospace.Herethetemperaturerangesbetween 1 million and 2 million degrees. Image Source: http://imageshack.us/photo/my images/265/sunpartsfull.jpg/sr=1 SolarVariability The Sun experiences an 11 year activity solar cycle and a 22 year magnetic solar cycle. Over 11 years, on average, the Sun changes from being a very quiet star exhibitingverylittleactivityandnosunspotstoadramaticallyactivestarcoveredin sunspotsandexperiencingmultipleexplosionseveryday.Thiscyclecanbetracked by countingthenumberofsunspotsontheSunovertime(seeplotbelow).At the heartofthiscycleistheSun'smagneticfield.

ImageSource:NASA/SOHO(left), http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2006/images/figpredic241.jpg(right)

The magnetic field guides and controls all of the solar activity described above. At the quiet point in the solar cycle, called solar minimum, the Sun's magnetic field looksverymuchlikeasimpledipole,likeabarmagnet.Overthenextfiveorsixyear period,themagneticfieldgetstwistedup(duetodifferentialrotation),causingitto becomemoreandmorecomplicated.Asthemagneticfieldtwists,theSunexhibits more sunspots and more activity. Finally, the Sun reaches solar maximum. At this point,themagneticfieldlooksalmostnothinglikeasimplebarmagnetandtheSun is experiencing many flares, CMEs, sunspots, and more every day. At solar maximum, the Sun's magnetic field begins to flip. Over the following five or six years, the Sun begins to quiet again until it has reached solar minimum and its magneticfieldhasflipped. Atthestartofasolarcycle,theSun'snorthpolemaybeatthe"top"andthesouth pole at the "bottom." By the end of the solar cycle, the north pole will be at the "bottom"andthesouthpoleatthe"top."Afterasecondsolarcycle,thenorthpole will be at the "top" again. That is why the magnetic cycle is 22 years because it takes22yearsforamagneticpoleontheSuntoreturntoitsstartinglocation. TheSunandClimateorHowSunspotsAffecttheSunsTemperature In1801,Herschellookedforalinkbetweensunspotnumberandthepriceofwheat, reasoning that a raise in the Suns temperature would result in warmer temperatures on Earth, more wheat grown, and lower wheat prices. He did find what appeared to be a link, though other studies have found that the relationship dependsonwhichcropsarechosenforcomparison.Itisnowknownthatthereare variationsinsolarenergyoutputontimescalesof20yearsandmore(TheSun,Solar Analogs,andtheClimate,p.248). SolarDifferentialRotation It is now known that differential rotation is at the heart of the cyclic behavior exhibited by the Sun. The Sun is made up primarily of moving, rotating plasma in magnetic fields. Magnetic fields can guide the course of the moving plasma, as is oftenseenincloseupimagesofsolaractivitywherethe plasma very clearly follows magnetic field lines. However, the reverse is also true. If a large amount of plasma moves from place to place, it will drag its magnetic field along with it. This property leads to very complicatedbehaviorbythesolarmagneticfield,leading to an explanation of why the Sun experiences a regular solar cycle and provides a mechanism for all solar activity. ImageSource:http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/dynamo.shtml The Sun experiences differential rotation (equator rotates faster than the poles), which causes the magnetic field to become wound up and break into fragments. Plasmaalsoflowspolewardandviceversa,denotedthemeridionalflow.Plasmaat

the solar surface travels from the equator towards the poles while plasma deep inside the Sun flows from the poles towards the equator. This flow drags the twisted and fragmented southern magnetic fields toward the north pole and north facing magnetic fields towards the south pole, causing the Sun's magneticfieldtoeventuallyflipandreform.Thenitstartsall over again. The solar magnetic poles flip approximately every11years.Atsolarmaximum,rightbeforethemagnetic polesflip,themagneticfieldisinitsmoststressedstateand the Sun exhibits lots of sunspots, flares, and CME activity. Justafterthepolesflip,theSunexperiencessolarminimumwithnosunspots,very littleactivity,anditsmagneticfieldlooksmostlikeasimplebipole. SolarFlares,CoronalMassEjections,andtheMagneticSunEarthConnection SolarflaresarethemostenergeticexplosionsobservedonthesurfaceoftheSun.To makeacomparisonwithweatheronEarth,solarflaresareanalogoustotornadoes small in size but incredibly powerful and energetic. On images, flaresappearasextremelybrightspotsintheSunsatmosphere thatlastforonlyafewminutes.Flaresreleaseahugeamountof electromagneticenergyintheformoflightoverabroadrangeof wavelengths, including Xrays. They can also accelerate solar energetic particles (SEPs), i.e. potentially damaging, quick moving, highly energetic electrons, protons, and ions. The total energyreleasedduringaflareisequivalentto200millionnuclearwarheads. Like flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are explosions on the Sun. Unlike flares, CMEs result in the ejection of a huge amount of matter from the Sun's atmosphere into space. In fact, each CME ejects about the mass of 500 million Hummer H2sintospace.Ifaflaremaybecomparedtoatornado,thena CME is most like a hurricane; overall, CMEs are usually less energetic than flares, however their extraordinary size and ejectedmassmakesthemthemostthreateningsolarspaceweathereventstheEarth canexperience. A CME is a huge bubble of plasma that strikes the Earth. Much of this plasma (98%) is deflected by the Earth's magnetosphere, but 2% of the plasma enters the Earth's magnetosphere. Some of these streaming charged particles generate electric currents in the atmosphere. These fluctuating electric currentscreatemagneticfieldsthatarefelton the ground. The magnetic fields then generate electric currents in the rocks in the ground or in the even more conductive manmade power lines, power grids, and even oil

pipelines, that extend for very long distances (depicted in the image below). If the electric currents are strong enough, they can cause protective relays in power stationstotriporevendestroytransformers,leadingtowidescalepowerloss.This happened to the Quebec power grid in 1989, leaving six million people without power for 9 hours. A severe CMEinduced geomagnetic storm has the potential to takeoutmultiplepowergrids,potentiallyleavingthemajorityofacountrywithout power.

ImageSource:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GIC_generation.jpg In the modern era, the connection between solar storms and magnetic storms on Earthisveryclear. AuroraandMagneticStorms TheNorthernLightsorauroraborealisaresomeofthemostobviousandbeautiful effects of space weather. Aurora are the result of charged particles from the solar wind interacting with the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. Most of the electrons, protons, and ions in the solar wind are deflected by the Earth's magnetosphere, however some of them actually get trapped in the magnetic field surroundingtheEarth,calledthemagnetosphere.

ImageSource: http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/10/aurora_borealis/img/aurora_ borealis_624in.gif When a charged particle encounters a magnetic field, the force that the magnetic fieldexertsontheparticlecausesittospiralaroundandfollowthemagneticfield lines. When a CME hits the Earth, the magnetosphere is stretched and pulled,

compressedandreleased,likearubberband.Thechargedparticles(electronsand protons)caughtinthemagnetospheregetenergizedbythisactivityandgoshooting alongthemagneticfieldlinestothepoleswheretheyarebroughtdowntowardthe ground. This is why aurora occur at the poles because that is where the Earth's magneticfieldapproachestheground! The highspeed charged particles stream along the magnetic field lines and slam into atoms and moleculesintheatmosphere.Theimpactputsenergy intotheatmosphericatoms,causingtheirelectronsto jump to higher energy levels temporarily. When the electrons fall back to the ground state in the atom, they release the extra energy they gained from the collision in the form of photons, i.e. light. Oxygen emits green and brownishred light, while nitrogen emitsbluishandbrightredlight.Thatiswhytheauroraglowindifferentcolors;the lightthatmakestheauroraglowcomesfromdifferenttypesofatomsexperiencing electrontransitionsfromarangeofenergylevels.Thismechanismisthatsameone thatlightsupthefluorescentandneonlightsthatyouexperienceeveryday.Image Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red_and_green_aurora.jpg TheEarlyEarth The Earth is currently estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. The earliest rocks formedabout3.63.9billionyears,whenthemoltenEarthcooledenoughforrock formation.Thiscrustformationoccurredinanextremelyturbulentenvironmentin which the Earth was experiencing a continued heavy bombardment of planitessimals(SolarSystemEvolution,p.345). The early Earth did not form with an atmosphere. Evidenceindicatesthattherewasnotgasavailableinthe portion of the solar system where the Earth formed to generate an atmosphere at formation. The atmosphere andwateronEarthappeartobesecondaryinorigin.The atmosphere is thought to have been formed from gas releasedbythemantleduringthefirsthalfbillionyears (4 billion years ago) after accretion (consistent with a molten mantle from the strikes of planitessimals and the formation of the Moon by a massive collision) (SolarSystemEvolution,p.362363). (Image Source: http://www.phenomenica.com/2011/02/raresulphurcouldalter theoriesof.html)

WhentheEarthandSunWereYoung

TheEarthsmagneticfieldexistedby3.45billionyearsago,aswasfoundinarecent study using very old quartz crystals from Australia. The field, however, was only 30% 50% as strong as it is in the present. This has serious implications for the effect of the Suns solar wind on Earth. (Tarduno et al., 2010, http://www.space.com/8006earlyearthmagneticfieldweakling.html, http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/earthsmagneticfieldis35 billionyearsold/). TheEarlySun StellarevolutionmodelsclearlyindicatethattheearlySunwasonlyabout70%as brightasitistoday.Infact,theSunwillincreaseinbrightnessthroughoutitsMain Sequencelifetime.Thiseffectisduetothenuclearfusionofhydrogenintoheliumin the Suns core. As more and more hydrogen are converted to helium, the average density of the Suns core increases. The pressure inside the star must increase to hold up the stars heavier mass and the mechanism to make this happen is an increase in overall temperature, hence brightness, of the star. If the Sun was so much cooler, shouldnt the Earth have been as well? This will be discussed in the sectionentitledFaintYoungSunParadox. It has been observed that younger stars have stronger magnetic fields and spin more quickly than older stars. The Sun has and has always had a solar wind, i.e. plasma escaping into the solar system. The solar wind carries some of the Suns angular momentum away with it, causing the Sun to slow in rotation period over time (Keppens, MacGregor, and Charbonneau, 1995). The overall magnetic field of starsisseentodecreaseovertime,aswell.ThispaintsthepictureofayoungSun withafastrotationperiod(possiblyjustafewdayscomparedtothecurrent27day rotation period), a stronger magnetic field, and a more intense solar wind (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/earthsmagneticfieldis35 billionyearsold/). The record of ion implantation in lunar rocks and meteorites doesindicateamoreintenseancientsolarwind(Gaidos,Gudel,andBlake). TheImpactoftheEarlySunontheEarlyEarth ThefactthattheEarthhadamagneticfieldsoearlyoniscrucialtothedevelopment ofitsatmosphere.Withnoprotectionfrommagneticfields,thesolarwindswould haveblownmuchoftheatmosphereaway,asisbelievedtohavehappenedonMars. TheamountofradiationtheEarthlikelyexperiencedfromtheearlysolarwindona daily basis is what the Earth only experiences during the strongest solar storms today.WenowknowthattheEarthsmagneticfieldwasmuchweakerandtheearly magnetosphereonlyextendedabouthalfasfarabovetheEarthssurfaceasitdoes today. The strong solar winds combined with the Earths weaker magnetosphere would have lead to a constant display of auroras glowing in the Earths young atmosphereregularlyextendingdownNewYorkCitylevellatitudes,aneventthatis relatively rare today. (http://www.space.com/8006earlyearthmagneticfield weakling.html)

An additional consequence of the situation outlined above would be a higher loss rateofvolatilemolecules,likehydrogen,fromtheEarthsatmosphere. Theoldestevidenceforlifedatesbacktoabout3.5billionyearsago(anditiscertain thatlifehadformedby2.7billionyearsago),indicatingthattheEarthlikelyhada magneticfieldbythetimethatlifeformed. (http://paleobiology.si.edu/geotime/main/htmlversion/archean3.html) TheFaintYoungSunParadox As explained above, the early sun was only 70% as bright as it is today. A calculationshowsthat,atthatbrightness,theEarthshouldhavebeenfrozenover, however evidence for running water abounds from times as early as 3.2 billion yearsagoandearlier. (http://www.astrosociety.org/pubs/mercury/35_06/paradox.html) CarlSaganandGeorgeMullenfirstpointedoutthisparadoxin1972.Theyfeltthat the best solution was an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which would hold heat much more efficiently than today. Since they posed this problem, scientistshavebeentryingtocomeupwithanswers,butwithlittlesuccess. There are three ways to solve this puzzle. 1) The Earth must be able to more efficientlyholdontoheat;2)TheEarthmustbeabletoabsorbheatmoreefficiently; 3)TheSunmustnothavebeenasdimasmodelsindicate. Someproposed,asSaganandMullendid,thattherewasmoreCO2andmethanein theearlyatmosphere,howeverrecentstudiesofearlyatmosphericlevelsshowno evidenceofthehighlevelsofcarbondioxideneededtosolvetheparadox(Kasting, 2010).Otherscientistsproposedthattheearlyatmospherehadlesscloudcoverora different distribution of clouds, causing less of the Suns light to be reflected and moreheattostaywithintheatmosphere,butthesestudiestypicallyfellshortofa solution. Some attempted to propose a different evolutionary history for the Sun, calling theits30%reductioninbrightnessintoquestion,howeversurveyingsolar typestarsdidnotsupportthispossibility(Gaidos,Gudel,andBlake).Itshouldalso beemphasizedthatsolarevolutionmodelsaretestedonadatasetofthousandsof stars,returningaveryrobustresult. In 2010, geologists Minik Rosing and Allan Cox believed that they had solved the problem. The continents were smaller in the past, so more of the Earth was covered with dark oceans that could absorb more heat. Their model also depends on fewerclouds,whichmayhaveverywellbeenthecaseas clouds today form around biogenic sulphur gases and plantshadnotyetflourishedbackthen.Weputtogether somemodelsthatdemonstrate,withtheslowcontinental growth and with a limited amount of clouds, you could

keepwaterabovefreezingthroughoutgeologichistory.(StanfordReport,2010) (ImageSource: http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/cambrian.html) PerhapstheYoungSunParadoxhasbeenresolved,orperhapsnot.ANaturearticle claimsthattherearepotentialissueswithRosingandCoxstheory,pointingoutthat the albedo of ice was not taken into account and the cloud feedback mechanisms usedinRosingandAllensresearchfailtoworkinsomeconditions(Kasting,2010).

TheSun,ModernSociety,andHumanHealth

TheHeliosphere The same way that the Earths magnetosphere forms a protective bubblearoundtheEarthfromthesolar wind, the Suns heliosphere forms a protective bubble around the solar system, protecting it from the interstellarmedium.Thesamewaythat the solar wind buffets the Earths magnetosphere and compresses it on theupwindside,theinterstellarwind (duetoourmotionaroundthecenterof thegalaxy)compressestheheliosphereontheupwindsize.Wheredoesthisedge of the heliosphere occur? Ultimately, at some point, the solar wind expands far enoughthatitdoesnothaveenoughpressuretorepeltheinterstellarmedium.The placewherethisoccursisnamedtheheliopause.Theheliopauseendsinaturbulent termination shock. The location of the heliopause has been inferred thanks to the Voyager1&2spacecraft,launchedin1977andhavebeentravelingoutwardsinto spaceeversince.Inthepastdecade,theSunexperiencedintenseexplosions.These explosions traveled outwards to the heliopause, creating a radio hiss 13 months later that was detected by the Voyagers. The speed of the disturbances was measured,allowingscientiststoestimatethattheheliopauseislocatedbetween110 160 AU. In 2004, Voyager 1 was located at 94 AU and is expected to cross the heliopauseinthenextdecade.TheVoyagershaveenoughelectricalpowerandfuel tooperateuntil2020. OnJune20th,2011,ScientificAmericanreportsthatVoyager1isnowover17billion kmatEarthandiseitherapproachingtheheliopauseormayhavepassedthrough intointerstellarspace.Itnolongermeasuresthesolarwindatitsbackanditisa tranquilenvironment.IftheVoyagerhascrossedtheheliopause,ithasbecomethe firsthumanobjectevertoenterinterstellarspace. (http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=voyager1may havereachedtheheli110620_;ImageSource: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/dragon_fire_prt.htm)

TypesofRadiation TheSunemitstwodifferentdistincttypesofradiationelectromagneticradiation andparticleradiation.Wealsouseradiationtodescribeemissionsfromradioactive particles.Thetermradiationisambiguousanditsimportanttounderstandwhat kindofradiationisbeingdiscussedandthedangersofeachkind. ElectromagneticRadiation Electromagnetic radiation, or EM radiation, refers to waves in the entire EM spectrum. This includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light, ultraviolet light, Xrays, and gamma rays. The shorter the wavelength, the more energyanelectromagneticwavecarries,thusXraysandgammaraysarethemost energeticformsofEMradiation. Xrays(andshorterwavelengthEMradiation)haveenoughenergytoionizeatoms, hence they are referred to as ionizing radiation. If this EM radiation enters a personsbody,electronsmaybeejectedfromatomsormolecules,leavingacharged free ion, called a free radical. These free radicals may then interact with a DNA molecule,creatinganabnormalcellthatmaybeabletodivide,andinsomecases, causecancer.

ImageSource:http://www.andor.com/learning/light/ ParticleRadiation Particle radiation is caused by subatomic particles moving at high speeds, often closetothespeedoflight.Becausetheymovesofast,theycarryalotofenergy.The most common particles are electrons (also called beta particles), protons, helium nuclei(alsocalledalphaparticles),andneutrons. Energetic particles can be emitted by radioactive atoms hereonEarthortheycancomefromspace.TheSunemits energeticparticlesthatarecalledsolarenergeticparticles (SEPs). These electrons, protons, and alpha particles are not very energetic compared to galactic cosmic rays

(GCRs)thatcomefromthegalaxyandtheuniverse.GCRsmoveatnearlythespeed oflightandarecreatedinextremelyenergeticphysicalprocesseslikesupernovae. The most energetic cosmic rays are millions of times more energetic than the highestenergyparticleswecanproduceinourmostadvancedparticleaccelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva. (http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Lessons_online/SEM8V1V7D7F_0.html)(ImageSource: http://astronet.ru/db/xware/msg/1215207/crshower2_nasa_big.jpg.html) RadioactiveAtoms Radioactive atoms are atoms with a very large number of neutrons compared to protons, making their nuclei unstable. The decay rate of a radioactive atom is completelyindependentfromalloutsideinfluences,suchastemperature,pressure, orchemicalcompoundinwhichtheradioactivenucleusisfound.Radioactivedecay isalsocompletelyrandom. (http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/halfli2.html). When a radioactive atom decays, it can emit an alpha particle (2 protons and 2 neutrons, also called a helium nucleus), a beta particle (electron), and/or gamma rays(electromagneticradiation). Alpha particles are heavy and move very slowly. They do not penetrate very deeply intomaterialsandcanbestoppedbyapiece ofpaperoreventheouterdeadlayersofskin, however eyes and open wounds are at risk. Because they are heavy, however, they are very good at ionizing atoms (http://darvill.clara.net/nucrad/types.htm). If someone happened to inhale an alphaemittingradioactiveatom,itcoulddodamagetointernaltissues,potentially causingcancer.Somealphaemittersincludeplutonium236,uranium238,radium 226, and radon222 (http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/alpha.html). (ImageSource:http://www.vae.lt/en/pages/about_radioactive_waste) Betaparticlesareemittedwhenaneutroninanunstablenucleusdecaystoaproton and electron. The proton stays in the nucleus and the electron is ejected. Beta particlesareverylightandfast.Theycanpenetratedeeperintomaterialsthanalpha particles, but are stopped by solid objects. Beta particles can cause reddening or burning of the skin. Inhaled beta particles are even more dangerous as they can penetrate deeper into tissues and disrupt cell function. Some beta emitters are cobalt60,iodine129and131,andcesium137. (http://epa.gov/radiation/understand/beta.html) Theemissionofgammaradiation(agammaray)oftenfollowstheemissionofabeta particle. Gamma rays have enough energy to penetrate into the body and even completelypassthroughit.Theycanpotentiallycausealotofdamagebyexposing allorgans.Agammaraymayenergizeanelectroninsidetissues,whichcouldthen

ionize a molecule or atom. A gamma ray may ionize an atom or molecule inside tissuedirectly.(http://epa.gov/radiation/understand/gamma.html) TypesandEffectsofRadiationfromtheSun Flares generate light at all wavelengths, but the increase in Xray radiation is particularly important. Energetic Xrays can ionize atoms in the Earth's upper atmosphere, called the ionosphere. We use the ionosphere to bounce shortwave radiosignalsfromonepartoftheEarthtotheother,soachangeintheionosphere causesadisruptioninshortwaveradiocommunications. Xrays also heat up the Earth's upper atmosphere. This causes the atmosphere to expandorpuffup.Usually,satellitesareplacedinorbitshighabovetheEarthwhere the atmosphere is very thin or almost nonexistent. If the atmosphere expands, satellites suddenly find themselves surrounded by air, which causes a frictional drag.Thisdragwillcausethesatellitestoloseenergyandpossiblyfalloutoforbitif correctiveactionsaren'ttaken.Satellitesmayalsoburnupinthetemporarilyhigher density atmosphere. Another possibility is that atmospheric friction may put a torqueonthesatellite,causingittospinoutofcontrol.

ImageSource:http://solarb.msfc.nasa.gov/science/space_weather/

Flaresejectahugeamountofsolarenergeticparticles(SEPs)fromthesurfaceofthe Sun. SEPs are charged particles, like protons, electrons, helium nuclei, and other ions, that are ejected and accelerated by really energetic activity on the Sun. SEPs cantravelatspeedsclosetothespeedoflight.Atthesespeeds,SEPscarryalotof energy that can have damaging effects. These charged particles can cause satellite detectors to malfunction or even break. The small white dots and streaks on the imagebeloware"snow"causedbySEPs.Theimagewastakenwithacoronograph, sotheSunisbehindthewhitecircle. Lastly, and most importantly, a blast of SEPs is really a huge dose of radiation. On Earth, we are protected by our magnetic field. Inside the space station, astronauts areprotected,thoughanastronautonaspacewalkduringaburstofSEPsmaybein trouble.Inthefuture,humanstravelingtoMarswouldbeingreatdangerfromSEP radiation.Inanymissionwherepeoplewouldspendalongtimeinspacefarfrom theprotectionofEarth'smagneticfield,SEPswouldbeaseriousproblem. Like in flares, CMEs send a huge number of energetic charged particles towards Earth.Theseparticlescancausedamagetosatellitesinspaceorexposeastronauts toradiation Unlikeflares,aCMEisahugebubbleofplasmathatstrikestheEarth.Muchofthis plasma (98%) is deflected by the Earth's magnetosphere, but 2% of the plasma enterstheEarth'smagnetosphere.Thestreamingchargedparticlesgenerateelectric currents in the atmosphere. These fluctuating electric currents create magnetic fieldsthatarefeltontheground.Themagneticfieldsthengenerateelectriccurrents intherocksinthegroundorintheevenmoreconductivemanmadepowerlines, powergrids,andevenoilpipelinesthatextendforverylongdistances.Iftheelectric currents are strong enough, they can cause protective relays in power stations to triporevendestroytransformers,leadingtowidescalepowerloss.Thishappened to the Quebec power grid in 1989, leaving six million people without power for 9 hours. A severe CMEinduced geomagnetic storm has the potential to take out multiplepowergrids,potentiallyleavingthemajorityofacountrywithoutpower. SolarRadiationandHumanHealthRisks First it should be pointed out that humans experience radiation every day, even from inside our own bodies. The Earth, cosmic rays from space, and even living thingsarenaturalsourcesofradiationthatourbodieshaveevolvedtowithstand. ThereareoccasionswhentheSunreleasesalargenumberofhighenergyprotons, termed solar proton events, which can last several hours. These protons carry far less energy than galactic cosmic rays, but they do have enough energy to be a potential health risk to people in space or at high altitudes. Solar protons are also called cosmic rays, but the term galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) is reserved for those extremely high energy particles that are clearly not generated inside of our solar system.

So how high energy is high energy? Particles from the Sun tend to be what is considered on the lower energy end in the 10 100 MeV (million electron volts) range. Particles need to have energies of greater than 450 MeV to be detected on the ground. Near the equator, only particles with energies of about 15 GeV (thats giga electron volts; 1 GeV = 1000 MeV) can get through the Earths magnetic field to the upper atmosphere. Particles of all energies can enter the atmosphere near the poles. To put these energies into perspective, a proton with an energy of 100 MeV is traveling 43% the speed of light. A proton with an energy of 10 GeV is traveling 99.6% the speed of light! Most galactic cosmic rays have energies between 100 MeV and 10 GeV.

The Earths atmosphere provides a very effective shield against solar proton events and only about 15% of the protonsintheseeventshaveenoughenergy(>450MeV) to create a particle cascade that is detectable on the ground. The Earths magnetosphere is the primary barriertocosmicraysfromtheSun.Itiseasiestforthese cosmic rays to reach the Earths atmosphere near the poles where the magnetic field heads down into the ground.Fartherfromthepoles,themagneticfieldraises increasingly higher above the ground, requiring protons of higher and higher energies to penetrate to the atmosphere. Thus, the amount of radiation that penetrates to the atmosphere depends on magnetic latitude. People that live above 50 degrees geomagnetic latitude experience about twice as much radiation as people that live below this latitude. (Image http://physik.uibk.ac.at/hephy/Hess/Cosmic_RaysCosmo_ALEPH.gif)

ImageSource:http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/2009/09/01/howmuch radiationdoesittaketokillyou/

Source:

 Increasinginaltitudealsoincreasestheriskofradiation.Forexample,peopleliving in Denver, Colorado experience about twice as much cosmic radiation as people living at sea level. This added exposure to cosmic rays does not appear to have a significant health impact as medical studies show that people living at mountain altitudesaregenerallyhealthierandhavelongerlifespansthanthoselivingatsea level.However,increasedexposuretocosmicraysisaconcernforpeopletraveling at aircraft altitudes (especially above 40,000 feet), particularly for pilots, flight attendants, and passengers traveling circumpolar routes. Accumulated radiation fromaflightscheduleof70hourspermonthathighlatituderoutescouldreachthe International Council on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended limit for a pregnantfemalein just fivemonths(2mSv).However,itisdifficulttoaccumulate theannualIRCPrecommendedlimitof20mSvforeveryoneelse. The radiation exposure of those in flight during solar proton events can be worrisome,thoughstillnotatdangerouslevels.TheSeptember29,1989eventwas recordedbyinstrumentsonthegroundandmountedinairplanes.Itwasfoundthat a7hourflightovertheNorthAtlanticwouldhaveresultedinadosageofabout.05 mSv.Atanaltitudeof50,000feet,theaccumulateddosagewouldhavebeenabout .075mSvinjustthreehours.Whilenotdangerousinandofitself,thisdoesposea radiation concern and circumpolar flights are generally rerouted during solar storms. For astronauts in space, radiation exposure and solar proton events are a serious concern. Inside the most heavilyshieldedpartsofthespacestation,astronautsare reasonably well protected from solar storms, but if the radiation from a storm happened to strike an astronaut during a space walk, he or she could suffer a large, potentially lethal dose of radiation. Additionally, NASA enforcescareerradiationdoselimits,sogettingcaughtinasolarstormcouldendan astronautscareerprematurely.(ImageSource:http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/) Luckily, NASA and other space agencies around the world have many satellites in orbitaroundtheEarthandattheLagrangianpoint,L1,locatedaboutamillionmiles from the Earth towards the Sun. These satellites provide an early warning system for solar storms, alerting scientists to potentially dangerous solar activity a few hours to a few days before it would reach the Earth. Solarradiationisoneofthelargestproblems scientistsmustfacewhenconsideringmanned spaceflight.Sofar,NASAhasbeenlucky.On August7,1972,inbetweenApollo16,which wascarriedoutduringAprilof1972,andApollo17,whichwascarriedoutin

Decemberof1972,therewasalargesolarstormthatwouldhavesickenedorkilled astronautsontheMoon.Someofthelessoptimisticstudiesindicatethatasix monthtriptoMarswithasixmonthreturntripcouldpossiblyincreasethelifetime chanceofgettingcancerto45%.Somescientistsestimatethateverythirdhuman cellwouldbedamagedbyenergeticparticlesduringtheflight.(Sun,EarthandSky, P.185186)(ImageSource:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mars_mission.jpg) People who are interested in learning their estimated radiation dose from the environmentcandosousingawebpageontheEnvironmentalProtectionAgencys (EPA)webpageatthefollowingaddress: http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/calculate.html. The FAA provides a similar website to estimate the radiation dose from flying, whichcanbefoundat:http://jag.cami.jccbi.gov/cariprofile.asp. TheEffectsofaSolarStorminModernTimes (SummarizedfromthebookStormsfromtheSun,pp.93) From March 6 to 19, an enormous sunspot group 54 times the size of the Earth explodedwithover195flares,11ofthemclassifiedwiththelabelXclass,reserved for the most intense of solar storms. As the sunspot group rotated into view on March6th,itreleasedoneofthemostpowerfulflareseverobservedandstreamof radiation that lasted 10 hours (the norm is about 30 minutes). Solar physicists estimated that the temperature inside the flar reached 20 million degrees Celsius and more energy was released in those moments than humans have consumed in the entire history of civilization. (p. 94) The readings on the NOAA GOES7 satellitesXraydetectorwentoffthescalefor27minutes.

ImageSource: http://www.redorbit.com/modules/imglib/download.php?Url=/modules/imagegal lery/gallery_images/6_e8d8201fae6310c288a1d298b3e1a402.jpg

The active region continued to send energized streams of protons towards the Earth.OnMarch9th,anotherenormousflareexplodedwithsuchbrightnessthatit exceededthemaximumvaluesonthescalesusedtorecordflarebrightness.Onthe 10th,observerssawawhitelightflareliketheoneCarringtonhadseenin1859,an extremelyrareevent.Followingthisflare,ahaloCMEwasobserved,meaningthatit washeadingstraightfortheEarth. On the night of March 12th, the front edge of the CME reached the Earth and by midday on the 13th, the Earths magnetosphere was compressed from a normal 34,000 miles above the Earth to possibly as low at 14,000 miles. This meant that satellites that were normally protected by the Earths magnetic field were suddenly laid bare in openspace. Magneticobservatorieshadreadingsatthetopof their charts for 5 or 6 hours, even those on the AmericanSouth.AuroraswereseeninMississippi, Arizona, Southern California, and Texas. The aurora continued south and was seen in Florida, Cancun, and Honduras. (Image Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cf m?id=geomagneticstormmarch131989 extremespaceweather&photo_id=FCC3D702 EC6F977D26727B186E45F446) On the ground and in space, satellite, power, and electronics companies were struggling. In the northeast US, a computer microchip manufacturer shut down because the magnetic storm was disturbing the sensitive equipment. Navigators saw their compasses distort to as far as 10 degrees. North Seaoilcompanieshadtostopdrillingbecausethemagneticinstrumentsthatguide thedrillswerewayoffcourse. Satellites were being bombarded with streams of energetic charged particles, unprotectedbythemagnetosphere.Atthesametime,theEarthsupperatmosphere wasexpandedduetoheatingfromthebombardmentoftheparticles. Satellites that should not be were suddenly feeling the frictional drag force of the atmosphere. The Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center which tracks about 8000 pieces of space junk lost track of 1300 objects. NASAs Solar Maximum Mission satellite (pictured) dropped 3 milesinorbitoveracourseofacoupleofdays(ultimately reentering the Earths atmosphere and burning up in December of 1989). A classified US military satellite tumbled uncontrollably through space. NOAAs GOES7 weather satellite suffered outagesandcommunicationproblems.Theaddedelectriccurrentsduetocharged

particles from the CME caused phantom switching and tripping of circuits. Some geostationarysatelliteshadtroublestayinginplace.Theexcitedionosphereleadto troubles communicating with GPS satellites, which returned poor or incorrect locations.(ImageSource:http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/SMM.jpg) Thegeomagneticallyinducedcurrents(GICs)fromthestreamingchargedparticles intheatmosphereleadtodisturbedpowercompaniesinMaryland,California,New York, New Mexico, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. In New Jersey, a $10 million transformerwasdamagedbeyondrepair.Usuallythesetypeoftransformerstakea year to build, but the power company was able to find one and get back up and runninginsixweeks. (Below, Image Source: http://spacefellowship.com/news/art23374/solarshield protectingthenorthamericanpowergrid.html) This storm was also the one that caused the collapseoftheHydroQuebecpowerplantand its neighboring plants. Once one plant experienced a loss of power, the added demand on the other plants caused them to collapse as well. All of this happened within seconds. Six million people in Quebec City, Montreal,andthesurroundingareaswereleft without power over the freezing Canadian March night. It took nine hours to restore power by channeling it from other utilities. After a study of the system collapse, scientists reported that the entire northeastern US, which depended partly on HydroQuebec power, almost fell into blackout,aswell.

ImageSource:http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/images/31311a.jpg

 Bergeron,Louis.EarlyEarthstayedwarmbecauseitsoceanabsorbedmore sunlight;greenhousegaseswerenotinvolved,Stanfordresearcherssay.Stanford Report,April5,2010. Carlowicz,MichaelJ.andLopez,RamonE.StormsfromtheSun:TheEmerging ScienceofSpaceWeather.JosephHenryPress.Washington,DC.NationalAcademy ofSciences,2002. Catchpole,Heather.EarlyEarthembroiledinconstantsolarstorm.Cosmos,March5, 2010. Clark,Stuart.TheSunKings:TheUnexpectedTragedyofRichardCarringtonandthe TaleofHowModernAstronomyBegan.PrincetonUniversityPress,2007. Gaidos,EricJ.,Gudel,Manuel,Blake,GeoffreyA.TheFaintYoungSunParadox:An ObservationalTestofanAlternativeSolarModel. Goldblatt,C.andZahnle,K.J.CloudsandtheFaintYoungSunParadox. arXiv:1102.3209v1,February16,2011. Kasting,JamesF.FaintYoungSunRedux.NatureVolume464p.687.April1,2010. Keppens,R.,MacGregor,K.B.,Charbonneau,P.Ontheevolutionofrotational velocitydistributionsforsolartypestars.AstronomyandAstrophysics,294,469 487,1995. KFC.ASolutiontotheFaintYoungSunParadox.ThePhysicsarXivBlog,April2, 2010. Kiehl,T.J.andDickinson,R.E.AStudyoftheRadiativeEffectsofEnhanced AtmosphericCO2andCH4onEarlyEarthSurfaceTemperatures.Journalof GeophysicalResearch,Vol.92,No.D3,pages29912998,March20,1987. Lang,KennethR.Sun,EarthandSkySecondEdition.SpringerScience+Business Media,LLC,2006. Matson,John.Voyager1MayHaveReachedtheHeliopause.60SecondSpace Podcast.ScientificAmerican.June20,2011.

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