Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere
Normally, only people in the far north can enjoy the dancing beauty of the aurora borealis; however, an intense collision of charged solar particles with the Earth's magnetic field can magnify the Northern Lights so much that they are visible in the southern United States. Behind the light show...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20020090260 2023-05-15T15:33:51+02:00 Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere Goldstein, Melvyn Roberts, Aaron Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available 2000 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20020090260 unknown Document ID: 20020090260 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20020090260 No Copyright CASI Solar Physics 2000 NCCS Highlights: Enabling NASA Earth and Space Sciences; 66-71 2000 ftnasantrs 2015-03-15T02:16:42Z Normally, only people in the far north can enjoy the dancing beauty of the aurora borealis; however, an intense collision of charged solar particles with the Earth's magnetic field can magnify the Northern Lights so much that they are visible in the southern United States. Behind the light show lies enough flux of energetic particles carried by solar wind to render our planet uninhabitable. The Earth's magnetic field, also known as the magnetosphere, is the only thing that shields us from the Sun. Even the magnetosphere cannot fully guard us from the wrath of the Sun. In March 1989, a powerful solar flare hit Earth with such energy that it burned out transformers in Quebec's electrical grid, plunging Quebec and the eastern United States into darkness for more than 9 hours. Northern lights and energy grid overloads are not the only ways that a solar wind can affect us. A solar storm in July 1999 interrupted radio broadcasts. Solar activity can disorient radars and satellite sensors, break up cell phone connections, and threaten the safety of astronauts. A large bombardment of solar particles can even reduce the amount of ozone in the upper atmosphere. Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the study of magnetic fields in magnetized plasmas, can help scientists predict, and therefore prepare for, the harmful side effects of solar weather in the magnetosphere. Other/Unknown Material aurora borealis Northern lights NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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Open Polar |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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ftnasantrs |
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topic |
Solar Physics |
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Solar Physics Goldstein, Melvyn Roberts, Aaron Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere |
topic_facet |
Solar Physics |
description |
Normally, only people in the far north can enjoy the dancing beauty of the aurora borealis; however, an intense collision of charged solar particles with the Earth's magnetic field can magnify the Northern Lights so much that they are visible in the southern United States. Behind the light show lies enough flux of energetic particles carried by solar wind to render our planet uninhabitable. The Earth's magnetic field, also known as the magnetosphere, is the only thing that shields us from the Sun. Even the magnetosphere cannot fully guard us from the wrath of the Sun. In March 1989, a powerful solar flare hit Earth with such energy that it burned out transformers in Quebec's electrical grid, plunging Quebec and the eastern United States into darkness for more than 9 hours. Northern lights and energy grid overloads are not the only ways that a solar wind can affect us. A solar storm in July 1999 interrupted radio broadcasts. Solar activity can disorient radars and satellite sensors, break up cell phone connections, and threaten the safety of astronauts. A large bombardment of solar particles can even reduce the amount of ozone in the upper atmosphere. Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the study of magnetic fields in magnetized plasmas, can help scientists predict, and therefore prepare for, the harmful side effects of solar weather in the magnetosphere. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Goldstein, Melvyn Roberts, Aaron |
author_facet |
Goldstein, Melvyn Roberts, Aaron |
author_sort |
Goldstein, Melvyn |
title |
Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere |
title_short |
Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere |
title_full |
Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere |
title_fullStr |
Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
Under the Weather: Space Weather. The Magnetic Field of the Heliosphere |
title_sort |
under the weather: space weather. the magnetic field of the heliosphere |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20020090260 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
genre |
aurora borealis Northern lights |
genre_facet |
aurora borealis Northern lights |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20020090260 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20020090260 |
op_rights |
No Copyright |
_version_ |
1766364449731510272 |