Lectures / 16/09/2009 7:30 pm

Open Space?

Is the Sun a Source of Danger? The sun and space weather as factors in climate change.

The sun is the star that is closest to earth. Even the most ancient civilizations were in no doubt as to how important the Sun is for life on earth. Yet the sun is by no means immune to change. Solar activity follows a cycle of eleven years. The latest research has revealed that this cycle was repeatedly subject to breakdowns in the past and that this had grave consequences for the global climate. In addition to these long-term changes eruptions occur on the sun that may have serious repercussions on our hi-tec world: glitches in the sun’s radiation during an eruption may spell danger for astronauts in space; satellites may spin out of control due to surges in their electrostatic charge; the likelihood for short circuits to occur is higher; terrestrial radio traffic and GPS signals may be disturbed, computers in commercial airliners may run amok, and entire national grids may break down owing to excess voltage. 

All these influences are subsumed under the term space weather. It is the declared objective of modern solar research to make this space weather predictable.