Lecture by Marianne FAUROBERT, astrophysicist at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
When Galileo pointed his famous telescope at the Sun, he discovered unexpected "sunspots". Today, sunspots reveal an astonishing magnetic activity, with veritable solar storms during which clouds of plasma containing millions of tons of magnetized gas are ejected, hurling particles at high speed into space.
space. These particles interact with our atmosphere, causing the spectacular aurora, disrupting radio and GPS communications, and endangering our artificial satellites. I will present our current understanding of solar magnetism and the challenges we still face in understanding how it works.
space. These particles interact with our atmosphere, causing the spectacular aurora, disrupting radio and GPS communications, and endangering our artificial satellites. I will present our current understanding of solar magnetism and the challenges we still face in understanding how it works.
