"The Sun, The Earth, and Near Earth Space"
A Guide to the Sun-Earth System
By John A. Eddy
CONTENTS
AN OVERVIEW 
The Stars Around Us | 1 |
Our Dependence on the Sun | 3 |
The Sun’s Inconstancy 3 Intruders from Afar | 5 |
What Gets By ? | 5 |
Voyages of Discovery in an Age of Exploration | 6 |
A New Appreciation | 7 |
The Consequences | 8 |
An Interconnected System | 9 |
THE SUN
The Sun as a Star | 13 |
A Voyage to the Sun | 13 |
Perpetual Combustion | 14 |
The Hidden Source of Solar Energy | 16 |
Delayed Delivery | 16 |
Radiant Energy from the Sun | 17 |
How Constant Is and Was the Sun? | 18 |
Metered Sunshine | 19 |
The First Who Saw the Face of the Sun | 20 |
The Long Watch | 23 |
The Sun That We Can See | 24 |
The Photosphere | 24 |
Sunspots | 26 |
Bright Faculae | 28 |
Beneath the Shining Surface: The Bubble Machine | 30 |
Lifting the Veil: The Unseen Sun | 31 |
The Sun’s Chromosphere and Corona | 34 |
How We See the Corona and Chromosphere | 38 |
THE SOLAR WIND & SOLAR VARIABILITY
The Solar Wind | 45 |
Sources and Characteristics of the Solar Wind | 47 |
Solar Variability | 50 |
Why the Sun Varies | 52 |
Short- and Long-Term Changes in Solar Activity | 56 |
Solar Explosions and Eruptions | 57 |
Explosive Solar Flares | 57 |
Solar Prominences and Filaments | 60 |
Coronal Mass Ejections | 64 |
THE NEAR-EARTH ENVIRONMENT
A Protected Planet | 71 |
The Air Above Us | 72 |
Changes on the Way to the Top | 72 |
The Troposphere | 75 |
The Stratosphere | 76 |
The Mesosphere and Thermosphere | 77 |
The Ionized Upper Atmosphere | 79 |
The End of the Atmosphere | 81 |
Into the Magnetosphere | 82 |
The Form and Function of the Magnetosphere | 84 |
The Paths that Particles Follow | 85 |
Captive Particles in the Magnetosphere | 86 |
The Earth’s Radiation Belts | 88 |
The Plasmasphere | 91 |
The Heliosphere | 92 |
Cruising the Heliosphere | 94 |
FLUCTUATIONS IN SOLAR RADIATION AT THE EARTH
Changes in Total Solar Irradiance | 99 |
Variability in Different Parts of the Spectrum | 102 |
Effects of the Sun’s Rotation | 104 |
Effects of the Earth’s Orbit | 105 |
Lost in Transit: The Fate of Solar Radiation in the Earth’s Atmosphere | 107 |
VARIATION IN THE FLOW OF PARTICLES AT THE EARTH
The Nature of Arriving Particles | 111 |
Solar Sources | 113 |
Particles Borne Outward in CMEs | 113 |
Particles from Solar Flare | 115 |
The Solar Wind Plasma | 117 |
Characteristics of Slow Solar Wind Streams | 118 |
High-Speed Solar Wind Streams | 118 |
Sectors in the Sun’s Extended Magnetic Field | 119 |
Pushing and Shoving on the Way to the Earth | 121 |
When Solar Particles Strike the Earth | 122 |
Magnetic Reconnection | 126 |
Effects of Changes in the Earth’s Magnetic Field | 129 |
Cosmic Rays | 131 |
The Fate of Cosmic Rays | 132 |
IMPACTS OF SOLAR VARIABILITY
Solar Causes, Terrestrial Impacts, and Societal Effects | 139 |
Impacts on Near-Earth Space | 141 |
Magnetic Storms | 143 |
The Aurora | 146 |
Impacts on the Upper Atmosphere | 153 |
Perturbing the Earth’s Electric Field | 155 |
Restructuring the Ionosphere | 156 |
Disturbing the Biosphere: The Lower Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface | 159 |
EFFECTS ON HUMAN LIFE AND ENDEAVOR
What is Affected | 165 |
Some Specific Societal Effects | 165 |
Exposure of Aircraft Passengers and Crews | 167 |
Risks to Manned Space Flight | 171 |
The Ocean of Air | 171 |
Enhanced Ultraviolet And X-Ray Radiation | 172 |
Solar X-rays | 172 |
A Sun Intensely Bright | 172 |
Solar Energetic Particles and Cosmic Rays | 173 |
The Physiological Effects of Ionizing Radiation | 176 |
The Importance of Dosage | 176 |
The Disaster That Almost Happened | 178 |
Impacts on Spacecraft, Space Equipment and on Observations of the Earth From Space | 182 |
Times of Particular Hazard | 184 |
Flight Paths of Greatest Risk | 184 |
Spacecraft at the Lagrangian Points of the Sun-Earth System | 185 |
Polar Orbits and the South Atlantic Anomaly | 186 |
Geosynchronous and Geostationary Orbits | 186 |
Destructive Particles From the Sun and the Earth’s Radiation Belts | 187 |
Cosmic Rays | 188 |
Atmospheric Drag | 189 |
Impacts on Micro-Circuits and Computer Systems | 191 |
Damage to Other Space Equipment | 192 |
Protecting Against Damage From High-Energy Particles | 193 |
Impacts on Telecommunications, GPS, and Navigation | 195 |
Direct and Indirect Reception of Radio Waves | 196 |
Role of the Sun and Solar Variations | 197 |
Impacts on GPS and Other Navigation Systems | 198 |
Effects on Electric Power Transmission | 199 |
The Power Blackout of 1989 | 200 |
How Magnetic Storms Disrupt Power Systems | 201 |
Where Solar-Driven Power Outages Most Often Occur | 201 |
Effects of Geomagnetically-induced Currents on the Cost of Electricity | 203 |
Early Signs of Solar Interference in Communications | 203 |
Effects of GICS on Telecommunications Cables | 204 |
Damage to Pipelines | 205 |
Impacts of Geomagnetic Storms on Geological Surveys and Explorations | 205 |
EFFECTS OF THE SUN ON WEATHER AND CLIMATE
A Brief History | 209 |
The Missing Pieces | 212 |
Metering the Energy the Earth Receives | 213 |
Recovering the Past History of the Sun | 217 |
Effects of Solar Spectral Radiation | 219 |
Sensitivity of Climate to Solar Fluctuations | 221 |
11-year Solar Forcing | 223 |
Solar Forcing of the Oceans | 224 |
Hidden Diaries of the Ancient Sun | 225 |
The Fate of Carbon-14 | 227 |
Beryllium-10 in Ice Cores | 228 |
Marks of the Sun on North Atlantic Climate During the Last 11,000 Years | 230 |
FORECASTING SPACE WEATHER AT THE EARTH AND BEYOND
Space Weather | 235 |
Predictions | 236 |
Sources of Needed Data | 238 |
Available Warning Times | 240 |
Especial Needs for Manned Space Exploration | 242 |
Current Capabilities | 245 |
Operational Facilities | 246 |
The Heliophysics System Observatory | 249 |
REFLECTIONS
Solar Misbehavior | 255 |
What Has Changed? | 256 |
The Sun and Global Warming | 258 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
APPENDICES
Glossary of Technical Terms | 263 |
Sources for Additional Information | 291 |
Index of Tables | 295 |
Index of Images and Illustrations | 297 |
Index | 301 |