The Sun influences Earth in many ways. On one hand it provides the light
and heat that sustains life on our planet. On the other hand it bathes the
Earth in ultraviolet light, showers it with x-rays, gamma-rays, electrons,
and atomic nuclei, and wraps the Earth in the folds of its own magnetic
field. These connections impact life on Earth and are even more important
as we venture outward into space.
Solar astronomers at Marshall Space Flight Center
are searching for answers about the Sun and its 11 year cycle of solar activity.
We know that the Sun's magnetic field is the key, but we still don't fully
understand how these intense fields are created within the Sun or how they
produce solar flares, heat the corona, or drive the solar wind.
Space plasma physicists at Marshall Space Flight
Center are investigating the effects of the Sun on the Earth's magnetosphere
with radiation belts, its plasma ionosphere (gas ionized by Solar ultraviolet
light), and its upper atmosphere. Plasma from the Sun streams around the
Earth's magnetic shield, creating a dynamo that accelerates charged particles
into the Earth's atmosphere, creating the aurora borealis and australis
- the northern and southern lights. Plasma from our own atmosphere flows
up to fill the magnetosphere and radiation belts. Many of the details about
these processes are still uncertain. Scientists in the Space Sciences Laboratory
at Marshall are actively involved in missions to further our understanding
of the Sun-Earth Connection.
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Authors: David Hathaway,
Thomas E. Moore
Curator: Bryan Walls
NASA Official: Frank Six
last update: June 16, 1997