The Sun constantly flings a million tons of hot, magnetised gas toward Earth every second, and this research aims to understand exactly how and why. This work addresses a fundamental gap in knowledge: we do not fully understand the physical processes that drive solar activity—from the Sun’s internal magnetic field to the eruptions that send solar wind and coronal mass ejections hurtling through space. Nor do we know precisely how these disturbances interact with Earth’s magnetic field, triggering aurorae, disrupting satellite electronics, and energising the radiation belts. The team will also study similar plasma interactions at other planets and how cratering shapes planetary surfaces. This is primarily fundamental science. The immediate payoff is a deeper understanding of the Sun-Earth system. In the longer term, better models of solar wind and space weather could help protect satellites, power grids, and aviation communications from geomagnetic storms. Past fundamental research on the solar wind, for example, led directly to the ability to forecast disruptive events that now safeguard billions of pounds of infrastructure.
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The aims of the solar system programme at MSSL are to break new ground in the understanding of the physical processes at work within each of our theme topics: (a) solar activity and the origin at the Sun of the solar wind and disturbances within it; including coronal mass ejections (CME), flares, filaments and filament eruptions (b) solar wind formation and propagation and evolution through the heliosphere; including the source of the solar wind and understanding which regions on the Sun control the solar wind (c) solar wind interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere; including solar wind physics at kinetic and large scales, reconnection, magnetospheric acceleration and transport processes and processes controlling the aurora and radiation belts (d) solar wind and plasma interactions at other planetary environments; including ionospheric processes, comet-plasma interactions, planetary magnetospheric plasma populations and processes driving aurorae and X-ray emission (e) planetary surface formation processes; including cratering chronology and dynamic feature tracking via super-resolution restoration
Andrew Coates (Principal Investigator)Andrew Fazakerley (Co-Investigator)Christopher Owen (Co-Investigator)Geraint Jones (Co-Investigator)Graziella Branduardi-Raymont (Co-Investigator)Jonathan Rae (Co-Investigator)Lidia Van Driel-Gesztelyi (Co-Investigator)Louise Harra (Co-Investigator)Nicholas Achilleos (Co-Investigator)Sarah Matthews (Co-Investigator)Steven Miller (Co-Investigator)
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