29th September 2009, 6:30pm
The Unquiet Sun, Prof Michael Proctor ScD FRS FIMA
Abstract
To the naked eye (should one be so unwise as to look), the Sun can appear as a featureless disc, but close up it is full of activity. The surface is vigorously convecting like a heated pan of water, and supports huge structures in the form of sunspots. These are formed from intense magnetic fields that have their origin deep in the sun. The number and position of sunspots varies over a 22 year period (the ‘solar cycle’), and the fields are produced by a ‘dynamo process’, similar to that in one’s bicycle dynamo. Though the cycle is more or less periodic, there have been periods when there were very few sunspots, as in the early 17th century. I shall give a visual of these phenomena, explaining the physical processes involved, and describing how I gain understanding by developing simple mathematical models.
A Fellow of the IMA and a Kingswood parent, Michael Proctor is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, and Vice-Master of Trinity College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and Chairman of Governors at Mill Hill School. Apart from mathematics, his interests include rowing and gardening and (according to his family) fiddling about with computers.
Venue: Kingswood School, Bath, BA1 5RG
No charge is made to attend meetings and non-members are welcome.
