Nearest Star: The Surprising Science of Our Sun - Hardcover

Golub, Leon; Pasachoff, Jay M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674004671 ISBN 13: 9780674004672

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2001

Synopsis

Unlike the myriad points of light we gaze at in the night sky, our nearest star allows us to study the wonders of stellar workings at blindingly close range--from a mere 93 million miles away. And what do we see? In this book, two of the world's leading solar scientists unfold all that history and science--from the first cursory observations to the measurements obtained by the latest state-of-the-art instruments on the ground and in space--have revealed about the Sun. Following the path of science from the very center of this 380,000,000,000,000,000,000-megawatt furnace to its explosive surface, Nearest Star invites readers into an open-ended narrative of discovery about what we know about the Sun and how we have learned it.

How did the Sun evolve, and what will it become? What is the origin of its light and heat? How does solar activity affect the atmospheric conditions that make life on earth possible? These are the questions at the heart of solar physics, and at the center of this book. Having made optical solar observations with many solar telescopes and in the rockets and satellites, the authors bring their extensive personal experience to this story of how astronomers study the Sun, and what they have discovered about phenomena from eclipses to neutrinos, space weather, and global warming. Richly illustrated with an assortment of pictures from the latest solar missions and the newest telescopes, this book is a very readable, up-to-date account of science's encounter with our nearest star.

About this title

About the Authors

Leon Golub is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and is the head of one of the teams working with NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft.

Jay M. Pasachoff is Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College and, having viewed 31 solar eclipses, is Chair of the Working Group on Eclipses of the International Astronomical Union.

Reviews

Taking advantage of the increased attention as the sun reaches the peak of its 11-year sunspot cycle, Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Golub and Williams College astronomy professor Pasachoff deliver a clear, detailed and broadly informative overview of the scientific study of our "nearest star" and its effects on our planet. Other recent books cover some of the same territory in more detail (the energy production and internal structure of the sun and other stars in Stardust by John and Mary Gribbin and The Magic Furnace by Marcus Chown; the vulnerability of modern technology to intense solar activity in The 23rd Cycle by Sten Odenwald), but this book shines in its discussion of the properties of the sun's turbulent outer layers (chromosphere, photosphere and corona). It provides space- and astronomy-loving readers in-depth information about the many challenging projects that produced or are producing that knowledge, about advanced projects on the drawing board or in conceptual stages and about Web sites where readers can find more details and up-to-date developments. On the human level, the authors describe practical techniques to enhance the thrill of observing a total solar eclipse. The book ends with a discussion of the interaction between solar and terrestrial phenomena, comparing human contributions to climate change to the climatic influence of solar variation. Amateur astronomers will learn much from Golub and Pasachoff's study. Illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Coauthors Golub (astrophysics, Harvard Smithsonian Ctr. for Astrophysics) and Pasachoff (astronomy, Williams Coll.) describe for a nonspecialist audience what is currently known of the structure of the sun, the source of its enormous energy, its history and future, its various effects on Earth and its atmosphere, and the fascinating phenomena that occur during total solar eclipses. Some relevant tales from the history of solar research are also included. The strength of the book is that it is a "state of the art" report from two bona fide experts in the field. Weak portions of the work include the introductory chapter, which plunges readers into the thick of the subject matter, and a section that describes various future space missions. The latter portion is tedious, with many acronyms and technical details. The authors would have done well to omit this section and devote more attention to the details of the nuclear fusion processes that supply the sun's energy. With these reservations, the book is recommended for public and academic libraries. Jack W. Weigel, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For an object that has remained generally the same for billions of years (without such equability, life on Earth never could have flowered and thrived), the sun is stunningly turbulent and changeable. Golub and Pasachoff, who study the sun professionally, offer amateurs a brilliant, richly illustrated survey of the current state of solar knowledge. That knowledge is amassed most vitally from analyzing the spectra of light, whose varying wavelengths dictate how deeply into the sun astrophysicists may observe. Another source of information is, amazingly, sound and seismic waves, and solar eclipses still attract scientists who study the corona. Although we know now that nuclear fusion powers the sun's pyrotechnics, the detailed workings of its core still puzzles us, for the core produces fewer neutrinos than had been theorized, and its causation of the sun's enormously powerful magnetic field is a complete mystery, as is its relation to the 11-year sunspot cycle. Golub and Pasachoff describe the sun's dynamism and effects on Earth in a crystalline, nontechnical fashion perfectly suited to nonspecialist readers. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674004671
• ISBN 13: 9780674004672
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288