image: The sun is a moody creature subject to tantrums. When plasma explodes from its atmosphere, a shock wave of solar wind is felt on Earth. Solar aggression can create decorative aurorae and destructive geomagnetic storms. Our understanding of the sun could also be key to the hunt for extraterrestrial life. view more
Credit: Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The sun is a moody creature subject to tantrums. When plasma explodes from its atmosphere, a shock wave of solar wind is felt on Earth. Solar aggression can create decorative aurorae and destructive geomagnetic storms. Our understanding of the sun could also be key to the hunt for extraterrestrial life - finding a star with similar chemical characteristics might suggest it supports life in another planetary system. This book explores what we've already figured out about our inconstant star, proposes a novel explanation for how the corona reaches such stupendous temperatures and acknowledges that there is yet more to discover.
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About the author:
Claudio Vita-Finzi was born in Sydney, Australia, and educated in Argentina and the UK (BSc, PhD, ScD were all obtained at Cambridge University). He taught Geology and Planetary Science at University College London before moving to the Natural History Museum where he has been Scientific Associate in the Department of Earth Sciences working on solar fluctuations since 2001. He was awarded the Warren Prize of the US Academy of Sciences in 1994 and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1997 and the British Academy in 2012