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Solar and Astrophysical Magnetohydrodynamic Flows pp 337–354Cite as

Some Implications of Solar and Stellar Activity

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 481))

Abstract

The astonishing variability and suprathermal activity of the Sun and similar stars is presented as a problem in physics, about which there is currently more conjecture than hard fact. Attention is directed to the coronal hole, the active X-ray corona, and to the overall variation in solar brightness. The heat supply to the coronal hole and the quiet corona is the physical cause of the solar wind, providing the loss of mass and angular momentum from a solitary late main sequence star like the Sun. The heat supply to the active corona is the cause of the X-ray emission from such stars. The variation of solar brightness has profound effect on terrestrial climate. The best guess for the causes of these phenomena is the microflaring in the network fields, the spontaneous discontinuities in the bipolar fields, and the enhanced convective heat transport associated with emerging flux bundles, respectively. The observational difficulty is the inability to see below the surface of the Sun and the inability to resolve the 102 km internal structure and motions of the faculae, plages, microflares, and magnetic fibrils at the visible surface. A solar microscope with resolution of 0.1” is essential for probing these basic characteristics. Observational study of these solar phenomena is critical for understanding the associated century long warming and cooling of the terrestrial climate, now complicated by the accumulating anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and for understanding the X-ray astronomy of solitary stars.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Enrico Fermi Institute and Depts. of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Chicago, 933 East 56th Street, 60637, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Eugene Parker

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  1. Eugene Parker
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  1. Department of Physics, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

    Kanaris C. Tsinganos

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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Parker, E. (1996). Some Implications of Solar and Stellar Activity. In: Tsinganos, K.C. (eds) Solar and Astrophysical Magnetohydrodynamic Flows. NATO ASI Series, vol 481. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0265-7_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0265-7_15

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