On the morning of 20th March 2015 we will witness a partial solar eclipse, though we won’t see totality in the UK.
Recent total eclipse observations have enabled stunning images of the Sun’s corona to be recorded, spectacularly demonstrating that the magnetic field is the primary structuring force in the solar atmosphere.
Fortunately, we no longer have to wait for total eclipses: modern satellite observations give us a high-resolution, 24-7 view of the solar corona. Yet far from clarifying our understanding of the Sun’s magnetic field, these observations are revealing new intricacies and complexities. In particular, when we observe the Sun continuously, we see that the magnetic field is far from the static picture suggested by traditional eclipse pictures, but is highly dynamic.
In this talk, Dr Anthony Yeates (Durham University) will use modern observations and models to illustrate our current understanding of this time variation.
This question is not an academic one, for the Earth sits right inside the Sun’s varying magnetic field!
Further information: A couple of articles published by Dr Anthony Yeates
