Marcia Neugebauer, Space physicist, UA Research Associate, and resident of Academy Village
Wednesday, January 4, 2023,
2:30-3:30 pm,
ASA Koffler Great Room & Zoom
Earth is but one of the many bodies that circle the Sun to form the solar system. And we on Earth are not immune to the effects of what is happening on the Sun and in interplanetary space.
Marcia will begin her lecture by summarizing Earth’s continuing bombardment by extraterrestrial material. She will then move on to the significant effect that solar variations can have on our lives here on Earth. Past events on the Sun have led to such phenomena as
- Unusual variations in terrestrial temperature and in tree rings,
- disruption of the Earth’s magnetic field, leading to
- extraordinary displays of northern (and southern) lights,
- disruption of radio communications and GPS data,
- widespread electric blackouts,
- failure or destruction of Earth satellites.
Solar activity is currently increasing, with the next solar-activity maximum expected in 2025. What might we expect?
Marcia Neugebauer has a bachelor’s degree with Honors in Physics from Cornell and an MS in physics from the University of Illinois. In 1956, she was hired by Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and soon participated in the design of an instrument that proved the proposed existence of and the first measurements of the properties of the solar wind. After 45 years at JPL, she and her husband Gerry (a pioneer in infrared astronomy) moved to Academy Village and she received an appointment as a Research Associate at UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
Preview by Marcia Neugebauer
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