The magnetically active sun is at the centre of our solar system. Solar wind flows continuously in all directions from its corona, forming a large-scale magnetised plasma shell around our central star: the heliosphere. Together with cosmic particle radiation penetrating from the interstellar medium, the solar wind shapes the development of space weather in interplanetary space and in the magnetospheres and ionospheres of the planets. How do comet tails and polar lights form? What influence does the solar wind have on life in the Earth system?
Supported by fascinating illustrations of astronomical objects, explanatory graphics, original scientific data and links to video sequences, the underlying physical processes and the latest findings are presented in a didactic manner and clearly explained with few mathematical derivations.
This non-fiction book is aimed at the educated general public, amateur astronomers and young students who want to gain a comprehensive overview of the general significance of magnetic phenomena and a deeper understanding of the processes in the space plasmas of our solar system.
Table of contents:
- The solar system and the heliosphere
- Exploration of the Sun and the heliosphere
- The magnetically active Sun
- The solar wind in space
- Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter
- Obstacles in the solar wind
- Comets and their tails
- Magnetospheres, ionospheres and polar lights
- Space weather research
- Possible effects of space weather on Earth's climate
About the authors:
- As a trained astrophysicist, former secondary school teacher of physics and mathematics, and author of educational textbooks and popular science articles, Ulrich von Kusserow gives lectures focusing on the influence of cosmic magnetic fields, not only in our solar system.
- Dr Eckart Marsch is a theoretical physicist who qualified in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Göttingen, where he worked as an adjunct professor. At the former Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy in Katlenburg-Lindau, he headed a research group working on space plasma physics and the physics of the solar corona and solar wind until his retirement in 2012.
