We still have questions to answer about the Earth’s relationship with the Sun.

Lauren Blum, assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary science at the University of Colorado Boulder, examines some.

Lauren Blum is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.  Prior to 2020, she was a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.  She received her BA in Physics from Dartmouth College and her PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from CU Boulder.  Her research interests include heliospheric physics and the coupled nature of plasma populations in planetary magnetospheres.  In particular, recent work has focused on wave-particle interactions, solar wind-magnetosphere coupling, and energetic particle dynamics in Earth’s radiation belts.  Her experience includes analysis of particle and field measurements from satellites, balloons, and ground stations, as well as instrument and small satellite development.

Living With a Star: The Sun-Earth Connection

When a flare is observed on the Sun, do we know what comes next?  Will anything change at or around the Earth?  And if so, in what ways? Can we predict when and where we’ll be able to view the Northern Lights, or aurora?  And do we understand what processes drive these dancing celestial lights?

Heliophysics researchers, like me, are working to answer these questions. We typically think of the Sun’s influence on Earth primarily as the light we receive from it – illuminating and heating things during the day.  But in addition to these photons, the Sun also emits plasma, or charged particles – ions and electrons – that stream towards our planet and interact with Earth’s magnetic field, causing impacts ranging from auroral lights in the skies to outages in our power grids.

My research group is focused on understanding this Sun-Earth coupling, and the impacts of solar activity on the near-Earth space environment. In particular, we’re working to understand how solar activity, such as flares and eruptions of plasma from the sun’s surface, can enhance radiation around the Earth in regions known as the Van Allen radiation belts. We study this not only to advance our knowledge of fundamental plasma physics and particle acceleration but also for more practical purposes, to better design spacecraft and prepare for human exploration through this dynamic space environment. 

The phrase “Living with a Star” is the name of a NASA program – which encompasses lots of different projects, from small research grants to large space missions – but it also summarizes my research really well. How are we on Earth impacted by our neighborhood star, the Sun? And what processes, both visible and invisible, couple these seemingly distant but inextricably connected systems?

Read More:

[The Conversation] – Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space

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