Department of Physics

10ΕΚ102 Space and Solar Physics

Course webpage:   https://eclass.uoa.gr/courses/PHYS212

Course outline

Course content

• Characterization of a plasma, plasmas in space, charged particle motion in electromagnetic fields, adiabatic invariants.
• Main features of the Sun, structure of the Sun, solar magnetic field, solar corona.
• The active Sun: Sunspots, flares, coronal mass ejections, high speed streams, corotating interaction regions, solar energetic particles, solar cycle, cosmic rays.
• Planetary magnetism, terrestrial magnetosphere, geomagnetic field, topology of the magnetosphere, plasma populations and currents, plasma sources and sinks, solar-terrestrial coupling, open and closed magnetosphere models.
• Geospace disturbances: Magnetospheric substorms, aurora, geomagnetic storms.
• Energetic particles in geospace: Ring current, Van Allen radiation belts, particle acceleration and loss mechanisms.
• Outer planets: magnetosphere and moons of Jupiter, magnetosphere, rings and moons of Saturn, magnetospheres of Uranus and Neptune.
• Inner planets: Magnetic field of Mars, ionosphere of Venus, magnetosphere of Mercury.