Bio
Dr. Nat Gopalswamy is an Astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He is an expert in solar eruptions and their space weather consequences. He has authored or co-authored more than 475 scientific articles and has edited nine books. He is the Executive Director of the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI). He has received numerous awards including the 2013 NASA Leadership Medal, 2017 John C. Lindsay Memorial award for space science, and AGU’s Space Physics & Aeronomy Richard Carrington (SPARC) award. He was conferred with a Doctor Honoris Causa by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He received his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science (1982) and postdoctoral training at the University of Maryland at College Park (1985).
Title of Talk
"Solar and Stellar Coronal Mass Ejections "
Abstract
"Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from closed magnetic field regions on the Sun represent the most energetic phenomenon in the heliosphere. The main consequences of such high-energy CMEs are their ability to cause solar energetic particles (SEP) events and cause magnetic storms when impacting Earth’s magnetosphere. Particles accelerated by CME-driven shocks can pose danger to humans and their technological structures in space. Particles energized inside the magnetosphere (mostly in the outer Van Allen belts) during magnetic storms can severely impact satellites operating there. Solar flares is another aspect of magnetic energy release, mostly characterized by the sudden enhancement in electromagnetic emission at various wavelengths – from radio waves to gamma-rays. Flares are responsible for the sudden ionospheric disturbances and prompt perturbation of Earth’s magnetic field known as magnetic crochet. It is natural to extend the knowledge gained from solar observations to stellar cases. There has been extensive search to identify stellar CMEs with limited success. It is natural to expect stellar CMEs to accelerate particles similar to the solar ones with anticipated impact on the planets in the stellar systems. This presentation highlights key results obtained from SOHO and STEREO observations of CMEs and briefly discusses stellar CME investigations. "