Dr. Art Poland

GMU/NASA GSFC

• We are moving off the planet

– Need satellites– We live out there – space

station– We are exploring – Mars

• There are problems to solve– Radiation– Spare parts

Why Study the Sun/Earth System

Electromagnetic Spectrum

View Emission Tubes

Emission

The Atom

Space Station

Galaxy• The Sun is at the

arrow 30,000 light-years from the center.

• The Sun orbits the center of the galaxy in about 225 million years.

• 100 billion other stars

Galaxies are in Clusters

Structure of Sun

The Visible Sun

SOHO Orbit

EIT He CME

EIT Corona

CDS Multi-temperature Images

Corona

LASCO CME

Question

What’s an Aurora?

Aurora

Aurora From Space STS 60

Sun-Earth System -- Driven by 11 Year Solar Cycle

EIT Solar Min-Max

Why do we care about the heliosphere?

SOHO Home Page

soho.nascom.nasa.gov