122 For Further Exploration: The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star
Articles
Berman, B. “How Solar Storms Could Shut Down Earth.” Astronomy (September 2013): 22. Up-to-date review of how events on the Sun can hurt our civilization.
Frank, A. “Blowin’ in the Solar Wind.” Astronomy (October 1998): 60. On results from the SOHO spacecraft.
Holman, G. “The Mysterious Origins of Solar Flares.” Scientific American (April 2006): 38. New ideas involving magnetic reconnection and new observations of flares.
James, C. “Solar Forecast: Storm Ahead.” Sky & Telescope (July 2007): 24. Nice review on the effects of the Sun’s outbursts and on Earth and how we monitor “space weather.”
Schaefer, B. “Sunspots That Changed the World.” Sky & Telescope (April 1997): 34. Historical events connected with sunspots and solar activity.
Schrijver, C. and Title, A. “Today’s Science of the Sun.” Sky & Telescope (February 2001): 34; (March 2001): 34. Excellent reviews of recent results about the solar atmosphere.
Wadhwa, M. “Order from Chaos: Genesis Samples the Solar Wind.” Astronomy (October 2013): 54. On a satellite that returned samples of the Sun’s wind.
Websites
- Dr. Sten Odenwald’s “Solar Storms” site
- ESA/NASA’s Solar & Heliospheric Observatory: A satellite mission with a rich website to explore
- High Altitude Observatory Introduction to the Sun: For beginners
- NASA’s Solar Missions: Good summary of the many satellites and missions NASA has
- NOAA Profile of Space Weather: A primer
- NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Information Pages: Includes primers, videos, a curriculum and training modules
- Nova Sun Lab: Videos, scientist profiles, a research challenge related to the active Sun from the PBS science program
- Space Weather: Storms on the Sun: An illustrated booklet from NOAA
- Stanford Solar Center: An excellent site with information for students and teachers
Apps
These can tell you and your students more about what’s happening on the Sun in real time.
Videos
Out There Raining Fire: Nice overview and introduction to the Sun by science reporter Dennis Overbye of the NY Times (2:28)
Sun Storms: From the Starry Night company about storms from the Sun now and in the past (4:49)
Sunspot Group AR 2339 Crosses the Sun: Short video (with music) animates Solar Dynamics Observatory images of an especially large sunspot group going across the Sun’s face (1:15).
Space Weather Impacts: Video from NOAA (2:47)
Videos from the National Weather Service (four short videos) (14:41)
Journey into the Sun: 2010 KQED Quest TV Program mostly about the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft, its launch and capabilities, but with good general information on how the Sun works (12:24)
NASA | SDO: Three Years in Three Minutes—With Expert Commentary: Video of 3 years of observations of the Sun by the Solar Dynamics Observatory made into a speeded up movie, with commentary by solar physicist Alex Young (5:03)
Our Explosive Sun: Video of a 2011 public lecture in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series by Dr. Thomas Berger about solar activity and recent satellite missions to observe and understand it (1:20:22)
Space Weather: Storms on the Sun: Science bulletin from the American Museum of Natural History, giving the background to what happens on the Sun to cause space weather (6:10)
What Happens on the Sun Doesn’t Stay on the Sun: From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: introduction to the Sun, space weather, its effects, and how we monitor it (4:56)