Astronomy on Tap Atlanta: How’s the Weather in Space? Exploring Solar Physics and Space Weather — and How AI Helps Us Understand the Sun (After a Drink or Two)

Speaker: GSU Assistant Professor of Astrophysics Viacheslav (Slava) Sadykov

Abstract: The Sun is much more than a bright light in our sky. It is an active, dynamic star that constantly shapes the space environment around itself and interacts with our planet. Sometimes, these interactions present a threat to our space satellites, astronauts, or power grids. These effects are illustrations of space weather — the “weather” in space caused by the Sun’s radiation, plasma, and energetic particles interacting with Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere. As for the regular weather on Earth, we experience mild breezes of the solar wind during the quiet periods (corresponding to the solar activity minima) and severe geomagnetic and radiation storms during the ‘hurricane’ seasons (solar activity maxima). In this activity, we will explore how we observe and study the main effects of solar activity on Earth – from long-term, decade-scale trends to sudden, energetic, transient bursts like solar flares or particle storms. We will then look at how scientists predict solar activity using state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence techniques. Finally, we will discuss why predicting solar activity is so challenging and the steps we can take to enhance our resilience to space weather.