Physics of the Sun, Heliosphere and Space Weather - Key Knowledge
Lecturers: Bothmer, V.
Dates: Tuesday, 10:00 - 12:00, weekly
Room: Fakultät Physik - SR17, F.05.104
Vorlesung auf Englisch, 2 SWS, 3 ECTS
Content:
The heliosphere is a region in interstellar space filled by the expanding solar wind emanating from
the Sun's hot outer atmosphere, the solar corona. The heliosphere extends into space over distances beyond 100 AU (1 astronomical unit = distance Sun-Earth = 150.000 Million kilometer), i.e. it reaches to distances much further away from the Sun than the planets. The Sun's magnetic field varies on a variety of time-scales, leading
to variations of the solar wind flow and in this way to changes in the structure of the heliosphere. The lecture series explains the associated physical processes, starting with the
Sun as the source, followed by the subsequent heliospheric consequences, including the influences on the solar system objects. The lectures focus on the key aspects of heliophysics so that the subject of space weather can be explained in depth in the lecture series "Physics of the Sun, Heliosphere and Space Weather - Applications and Simulations". The lectures also include presentations of latest results from ongoing space missions, such as STEREO, SDO, Proba2 and ACE, including the scientific data analysis. Further on, it informs about the development status of new missions like Solar Probe Plus and Solar Orbiter, as well as about actual space weather projects like AFFECTS.