Date: 10/10/1994 - "Use of Lunar Rocks to Study the Sun"
Public Lecture (free) Presenter: Dr. Donald D. Bogard, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Main Lecture Hall, Chemistry Building, 3:30 PM
The sun continuously emits chemical elements into space in a wide variety of energies ranging from the solar wind at ~1 kev/amu to solar flare protons of ~100 MeV. The more energetic nuclei affect the earth's atmosphere and can constitute a radiation hazard to humans in space; consequently, determinations of flux, energy, and temporal variation of the energetic protons is of interest. Furthermore, because the sun dominates the total mass of the solar system, measurements of the isotopic composition of some elements emitted by the sun can yield information about the origin of other volatile reservoirs in the solar system, such as planetary atmospheres. Because lunar rocks have recorded various solar nuclei through geological time, they can be used to analyze past solar emissions. In his Barringer Lecture, Dr. Bogard will discuss some specific experiments and results that address some of these issues.
Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences
202 Old Museum Building, University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA
Tel. 479-575-7625 Fax. 479-575-7778 csaps@uark.edu
The sun continuously emits chemical elements into space in a wide variety of energies ranging from the solar wind at ~1 kev/amu to solar flare protons of ~100 MeV. The more energetic nuclei affect the earth's atmosphere and can constitute a radiation hazard to humans in space; consequently, determinations of flux, energy, and temporal variation of the energetic protons is of interest. Furthermore, because the sun dominates the total mass of the solar system, measurements of the isotopic composition of some elements emitted by the sun can yield information about the origin of other volatile reservoirs in the solar system, such as planetary atmospheres. Because lunar rocks have recorded various solar nuclei through geological time, they can be used to analyze past solar emissions. In his Barringer Lecture, Dr. Bogard will discuss some specific experiments and results that address some of these issues.