Sun & Space Weather

Although the Sun nurtures life on Earth, it can create costly problems for society. Geomagnetic storms, spawned by disturbances in the vast solar corona, may scramble radio waves, disrupt navigational systems, burn up electrical transformers and exert a drag on low-orbiting satellites. Even small shifts in the radiative output of the Sun may drive global changes in climate.

Scientists in NCAR’s High Altitude Observatory of the Earth & Sun Systems Laboratory, using computer models and observing tools, are sharpening the view on how these vast forces shaping solar magnetism. This research may point the way to better predictions of solar storms and other events with impacts on the atmosphere, such as the Sun’s 11-year cycle. In addition, other NCAR scientists are raising important questions about the effect of the Sun on Earth’s climate, and its role in past and future climate change.

Highlighted Topics

• A prodigious celestial furnace

  If not for the Sun, we wouldn’t have any weather. The Sun provides the energy that drives atmospheric circulation and creates wind and precipitation. How can researchers determine what’s taking place inside the Sun and the resulting impacts on Earth’s atmosphere?

• The solar interior

  The Sun’s energy comes from deep within its core. This is a place where the temperature is so high and the pressure so great that hydrogen atoms collide at incredibly high speeds, creating nuclear reactions.

• The solar atmosphere

  The Sun's turbulent atmosphere is a region of churning and frequent explosions. Charged plasma particles are blown away from the Sun in every direction, moving millions of miles per hour to the far stretches of our solar system.

• Solar Storms

  Though the Sun looks calm in the sky, it is actually the site of violent activity driven by magnetic mayhem. The most dramatic solar storms are known as coronal mass ejections, which can release enormous clouds of plasma that engulf planets.

• Space Weather

  Solar disruptions can have both damaging and beautiful effects on Earth. Geomagnetic storms sometimes distort the outer atmosphere, scrambling radio waves and disrupting navigational and electrical systems. But disturbances also cause the beautiful atmospheric lights known as the aurora.

• Solar variation and Earth's climate

  Everyone agrees the Sun has profound influences on our atmosphere. But what, exactly, are its impacts on climate?