The Sun: A Laboratory for Astrophysics

As in the days following Skylab, solar physics came to the end of an era when the So lar Maximum Mission re-entered the earth's atmosphere in December 1989. The 1980s had been a pioneering decade not only in space- and ground-based studies of the solar atmosphere (Solar Maximum Mission, Hinotori, VLA, Big Bear, Nanc;ay, etc.) but also in solar-terrestrial relations (ISEE, AMPTE), and solar interior neutrino and helioseismol ogy studies. The pace of development in related areas of theory (nuclear, atomic, MHD, beam-plasma) has been equally impressive. All of these raised tantalizing further questions about the structure and dynamics of the Sun as the prototypical and best observed star. This Advanced Study Institute was timed at a pivotal point between that decade and the realisation of Yohkoh, Ulysses, SOHO, GRANAT, Coronas, and new ground-based optical facilities such as LEST and GONG, so as to teach and inspire the up and coming young solar researchers of the 1990s. The topics, lecturers, and students were all chosen with this goal in mind, and the result seems to have been highly successful by all reports.

Klappentext

emThe Sun: A Laboratory for Astrophysics/em presents an educational overview of many aspects of solar physics, in an astrophysical context, following two decades of major strides in solar studies from spacecraft and pioneering studies of the Sun as a star. The authors were chosen for the breadth of their interests, most having experience in both theory and observation, and many in instrumentation. br/ The first third of the book addresses the global physics of the Sun and its relation to other stars, covering energy generation, interior structure models, convection, magnetic field generation, as well as constraints obtained from surface observations, both seismic and magnetic. The second portion comprises a mixture of theory and diagnostics of the solar atmosphere and of instrumentation for observations from radio wavelengths to high energies. The final third concerns solar activity and flares, their relation to stellar activity, and their importance for the activities of humankind. br/

Inhalt
1 Opening Address.- I Solar Interior.- 2 The Structure and Evolution of the Sun.- 3 Seismic Investigation of the Solar Interior.- 4 Convection.- 5 Mean Field Dynamo Theory.- 6 The MHD Description of Cosmic Plasmas.- 7 Symmetric and Nonsymmetric MHD Equilibria.- II Solar and Stellar Atmospheres.- 8 The Photosphere.- 9 Small-Scale Photospheric Magnetic Fields.- 10 Sunspots: A Laboratory for Solar Physics.- 11 Chromospheric Structure.- 12 Spectroscopic Diagnostics.- 13 The Solar Corona.- 14 Solar Radio Observations.- 15 Stellar Chromospheres, Coronae, and Winds.- 16 Exact 2-D MHD Solutions for Astrophysical Outflows.- III Solar Instrumentation.- 17 Solar Optical Instrumentation.- 18 Solar Ultraviolet Instrumentation.- 19 Solar Radio Instrumentation.- 20 Soft X-Ray Instrumentation.- 21 X-Ray Instrumentation.- IV Solar and Stellar Activity.- 22 Solar Activity.- 23 Overview of Solar Flares.- 24 High-Energy Flare Emissions.- 25 Energy Release and Transport in Flare Plasmas.- 26 Stellar Flares: Observations and Modelling.- 27 Physics of Flares in Stars and Accretion Disks.