The Sun is Not Always Happy: Space Weather and the Question of Human Survivability - Livestream

On October 27^th 2022 NASA captured a now-famous image of the Sun “smiling” on its solar system [see image above]. But the Sun is not always happy! It can unleash violent “space weather” -- storms that can radiate X-rays and even gamma rays into space, send giant clouds of magnetic plasma slamming into the Earth and other planets, and spray firehoses of charged particles throughout interplanetary space. On Earth, we are mostly protected from the Sun’s wrath by our magnetic field and atmosphere, but astronauts venturing to the Moon and Mars will be vulnerable to these potentially deadly solar storms. Dr. Berger will discuss our current understanding of the interplanetary space environment, describe some extreme space weather events in history, and examine how well we can currently predict space weather and its impacts as we venture beyond our planet.

Tom Berger is the Executive Director of the University of Colorado’s Space Weather Technology, Research, and Education Center, which combines traditional space physics research with technology and education to bridge the wide gap between research on the Sun and operational space weather forecasting. He was formerly the director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, helped develop the world’s largest solar telescope on the island of Maui (the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope), and has been a co-investigator on international missions to study changes in the Sun’s magnetic field.

Attend the lecture here.