Lectures on Solar Physics

by H.M. Antia (editor), A. Bhatnagar (Editor), Peter Ulmschneider (Editor)

TheideafortheselectureseriesaroseataWorkshoponsolarphysicswhichwas heldattheInterUniversityCentreforAstronomyandAstrophysics(IUCAA), Pune/IndiainDecember2000. ThisWorkshopaimedtopresentacompreh- siveandup-to-dateoverviewofsolarphysicsforinterestedstudentsandfaculty inotherbranchesofastrophysics. Itwasintendedtoshowthatthis?eld, c- centratingonourcloseststar, isavitalandexciting?eldofresearch. Forthis purposeanumberofcomprehensivereviewswereorganisedwhichassumedthat theaudiencewouldhaveonlyabasicphysicsbackgroundbuthadnoprior knowledgeaboutsolarphysics. Thesetoflecturescoveredtopicsrangingfrom thesolarcoretotheconvectionzone, thephotosphere, chromosphere, andcorona andextendingtothesolarwindintheinterplanetarymedium DuringandaftertheWorkshoptherewasmuchenthusiasmforthisform ofpresentationanditwasfeltthattheselectures, augmentedbyincludingthe latestresearch?ndingsinthe?eld, wouldbebene?cialtoamuchlargeraudience. Thustheplanforthisbookoriginatedwhichcouldthenberealisedthanksto thepublishers, Springer-Verlag. Thereare9articlesbasedonthelecturesgivenattheWorkshop. Thearticle byChitreon"OverviewofSolarPhysics"givesanintroductiontothewhole varietyofphenomenaofsolarphysics, theproblemsandtheirsolutionsand salientresults. Thearticleon"InstrumentationandObservationaltechniques relatedtoSolarPhysics"byBhatnagardescribesindetailtheprinciplesof- larinstrumentationnormallyusedtotakesimplewhitelight, monochromatic andspectroscopicobservations. Practicalmethodstomeasureimportantbasic parameters, likearea, positionandtheclassi?cationofsunspotsaredescribed indetail. Antia'sarticleon"SolarInteriorandSeismology"describesthesolar interior, thetechniqueofhelioseismologyandhowthisnewtechniqueallowsa determinationoftheinternalstructureanddynamicsoftheSunandconstrains theoriesofstellarstructure, evolutionandangularmomentumtransport. - bastha'sarticleon"TheActiveandExplosiveSun"givesanoverviewofhighly time-dependentphenomenainthephotosphere, chromosphereandcoronaofthe Sunandprovidessometheoreticalmodelsofthesolar?ares. Hasan'sarticle on"MagneticFluxTubesandActivityontheSun"discussesthegeneration, storageandemergenceofmagnetic?eldsintheformofsmall-scale?uxtubes andexaminestheirroleinheatingofthechromosphere. Ventakrishan'sar- cleon"SolarMagneticFields"givesatheoreticaloverviewofthegeneration VI Preface ofmagnetic?eldsbythedynamomechanism, thegeneralmagnetic?eldtop- ogyandhowthemagnetic?eldsaremeasured. Ulmschneider'scontributionon "ThePhysicsofChromospheresandCoronae"discusseswhyallstarslikethe Sunhavehotouterchromosphericandcoronallayers. Itidenti?estheheating mechanismsanddynamicalprocesseswhichtakeplacebothinthepresenceand absenceofmagnetic?elds. ThearticlebyDwivedion"TheSolarCorona"gives ageneraloverviewofthesolarcorona, howitisobservedandwhatthephy- calprocessesleadingtoitsformationare. FinallyManoharan'scontributionon "TheSolarWind"describesthegenerationandmeasurementofthesolarwind derivedfrominsituobservationsbyspacecraftandinterplanetaryscintillation studies. Wehopethatbyreadingtheselectures, interestedpeople, amateurs, graduate andpostgraduatestudentswillbemotivatedtotakeupsolarphysicsasanarea ofresearch, andshareourexcitementaboutthewondersofourneareststar- theSun. WearethankfultoT. PadmanabhanandtheInterUniversityCentrefor AstronomyandAstrophysics, PunefororganisingandhostingthisWorkshop onSolarPhysics. Mumbai, Udaipur, Heidelberg H. M. Antia February2003 A. Bhatnagar P. Ulmschneider ListofContributors AshokAmbastha S. S. Hasan Udaipur Solar Observatory Indian Institute of Astrophysics Physica

351 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2003