© Pint of Science, 2024. All rights reserved.
The Sun provides us will all of the energy we need to survive on the earth. Not only does it give us warmth and light on a sunny day, it also supplies all the energy we need to grow food and live. But the sun has a more violent side where that energy is realised on mass in violent storms of plasma and charged particles. Northumbria University researchers will tell us how they are predicting solar weather. Cinema Room @The Town Wall. Doors open at 7pm, Event 7.30-9.30pm. Please note that this venue is for over 18s and is not wheelchair accessible.
Blowin’ in the (Sun’s) wind
A tempestuous gale rages through the solar system. The winds start low in the Sun’s atmosphere, reaching a million degrees in temperature, travelling at over a million miles per hour and transporting high energy particles and radiation. However, what powers it is still a puzzle. I will talk about how we study the Sun’s winds and why the UK government is now taking an interest in forecasting its behaviour.
Twisters on the Sun
Tornadoes (aka Twisters) exist across a range of scales due to fundamental physics behind their formation. In the bathtub, a vortex of water forms when the plug is released and the water funnels away. A vortex of wind results in destructive tornadoes on Earth that rotate at 100s km per hour and can be 1 km in cross-section. On the Sun, a vortex of plasma can lead to solar tornadoes spiralling at 100,000 km per hour and with a cross-section of the diameter of Earth. I will present the most detailed observations to date of solar tornadoes and outline what we know.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.