Saltar navegación

Activa JavaScript para disfrutar de los vídeos de la Mediateca.

Solar Storms and Satellites - Contenido educativo

Ajuste de pantalla

El ajuste de pantalla se aprecia al ver el vídeo en pantalla completa. Elige la presentación que más te guste:

Subido el 28 de mayo de 2007 por EducaMadrid

171 visualizaciones

NASA Connect segment explaining how NASA scientists use satellites to study and predict solar storms. The segment also explores which satellites are used, why this research is important, and how the storms might affect Earth.

Más información Transcripción

Descargar la transcripción

You know, Dan, just like meteorologists use satellites to predict weather here on Earth, 00:00:00
NASA uses satellites to predict solar storms. 00:00:07
Wait a minute, you're saying that in the future we'll talk about solar storms like we talk 00:00:10
about storms here on Earth? 00:00:14
We sure will. 00:00:15
Hmm. 00:00:17
Predicting the storms of the future. 00:00:18
This just in America, things are brewing up inside sunspots. 00:00:20
There'll be a high-energy burst of X-rays flowing from the sun. 00:00:26
For you people on the moon, SPF 3000 will come in handy as the pulse should be hitting 00:00:29
moon-based Norbert right now. 00:00:33
Solar storms have caused disruptions in our communications and power supplies. 00:00:39
For instance, in 1989, a solar storm knocked out electric power in Quebec, Canada. 00:00:43
Six million homes were without power for nine hours as a result of magnetic solar storms. 00:00:49
Preventing solar storms has huge benefits to us here on Earth. 00:00:55
If power companies could receive earlier storm alerts, they could minimize damage and power 00:00:58
outages. 00:01:02
So what is NASA doing to warn us about these solar storms? 00:01:03
To learn more about the sun-Earth connection and how it affects us, I'll show you a really 00:01:07
cool website you can do at home or at school. 00:01:12
In the meantime, I'm going to head to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, 00:01:14
Maryland, to talk with astronomer Dr. Sten Odenwald. 00:01:18
He runs Ask the Space Scientist with NASA's Image Satellite Program. 00:01:21
What are some forms of electromagnetic radiation? 00:01:29
How can satellites help researchers monitor the sun? 00:01:32
Why is it important to track solar storms as they approach the Earth? 00:01:36
If you want to get a clear view of what the sun is doing, you have to get above the Earth's 00:01:41
distorting atmosphere. 00:01:44
So we use satellites to gather the data that we need to understand how the sun works. 00:01:46
The sun radiates at all energy levels. 00:01:50
Radiation is energy that travels and spreads out as it goes. 00:01:53
There are different types of radiation. 00:01:56
Let me show you. 00:01:58
Visible light that comes from a lamp in your house or radio waves that come from a radio 00:01:59
station are two types of radiation. 00:02:03
Other examples of radiation are microwaves that cook popcorn in a few minutes, infrared 00:02:08
light, which restaurants use to keep food warm, ultraviolet light, which causes our 00:02:15
skin to burn, x-rays, which help doctors look at your bones, and gamma rays, which are emitted 00:02:20
from radioactive materials. 00:02:29
So Jennifer, let's apply this information to the sun. 00:02:34
As Eric stated earlier, the photosphere emits energy primarily in visible light, while the 00:02:37
lower corona emits energy in extreme ultraviolet light and the upper corona in x-rays. 00:02:42
By zeroing in on one particular light energy, we can study the various parts of the sun 00:02:48
and how they interact. 00:02:53
Okay, Dr. Odenwald, how can satellites help us to monitor and observe the sun? 00:02:54
With satellite technology, you can look at the sun 24 hours a day. 00:02:59
We can put satellites outside of the Earth's atmosphere to collect valuable data from the 00:03:02
sun and to act as early warning devices against solar storms. 00:03:07
Three important satellites that monitor the sun and provide us with real-time data are 00:03:11
the SOHO, ACE, and IMAGE satellites. 00:03:16
If you'd like to learn more about the SOHO satellite, Dr. Terry Kuchera, one of our researchers 00:03:20
at NASA Goddard, has all the information. 00:03:25
Great, great. 00:03:27
Hey, Terry. 00:03:28
Hi, Jennifer. 00:03:29
SOHO, or the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, has a dozen different instruments which observe 00:03:30
the sun 24 hours a day without interference from the Earth's atmosphere. 00:03:35
These instruments record the activity of a solar corona, the photosphere, and even 00:03:39
study the sun's deep interior. 00:03:43
SOHO has telescopes on board that take pictures of the sun in ultraviolet light. 00:03:45
Also, SOHO can give us a two- to three-day early warning of coming solar storms that 00:03:50
can affect the Earth's magnetic field. 00:03:54
That's really cool. 00:03:56
Thanks, Terry. 00:03:57
Oh, you're welcome. 00:03:58
So, what's next, Dan? 00:03:59
The second satellite is ACE, the Advanced Composition Explorer. 00:04:00
ACE operates like an ocean buoy that measures the density, temperature, magnetism, and speed 00:04:04
of the solar wind as it passes by. 00:04:09
If a solar storm is headed our way, ACE will detect it and give us 30 to 45 minutes warning 00:04:12
that a storm is about to hit the Earth. 00:04:18
Cool. 00:04:21
So, how do NASA researchers then analyze and interpret the data? 00:04:22
One way we can analyze and interpret data is by graphing them. 00:04:25
The graph shows the speed of the solar wind changing as it blows by the ACE satellite. 00:04:28
The title of this graph is Solar Wind Speed. 00:04:33
The horizontal axis, or x-axis, represents the number of days in September of 2000. 00:04:36
And the vertical axis, or y-axis, represents the speed of the wind in kilometers per second. 00:04:42
Okay, Stan, it looks like the speed of the solar wind ranged from 350 kilometers per 00:04:47
second to 800 kilometers per second during the month of September. 00:04:53
You're right, Jennifer. 00:04:57
On September the 18th, the solar wind reached speeds of 800 kilometers per second, or about 00:04:59
1.7 million miles an hour. 00:05:04
But most of the time, the solar wind averaged around 450 kilometers per second. 00:05:06
From the analysis of this graph, we can determine how long it took the solar wind to reach the 00:05:11
Earth's atmosphere. 00:05:15
That's amazing, Stan. 00:05:16
Now, besides SOHO and ACE, you mentioned a third satellite. 00:05:18
IMAGE? 00:05:21
Is that the one you're working with? 00:05:22
That's right, Jennifer. 00:05:23
IMAGE, which means Imager for Magnetosphere to Aurora Global Exploration. 00:05:25
And it's a satellite that orbits the Earth and measures the locations and changes in 00:05:29
the invisible clouds of particles that surround the Earth in space. 00:05:33
You probably already know one of these cloud systems, the Van Allen belts. 00:05:37
Astronauts and satellites avoid these belts because of their radiation hazard. 00:05:42
There is also a separate collection of particles called the ring current, which appears and 00:05:46
disappears whenever the Earth gets whacked by a solar storm. 00:05:49
Another one of these clouds, called the plasmasphere, is actually a part of our own atmosphere. 00:05:53
It extends over 10,000 miles above the Earth. 00:05:58
The IMAGE satellite lets us watch these different families of clouds change. 00:06:02
IMAGE helps us understand how solar storms can cause problems for our technology in space 00:06:06
and the health of our astronauts working there, too. 00:06:11
More importantly, it helps scientists improve our ability to forecast space weather. 00:06:14
Wow, I realized the sun was critical to sustain life here on Earth, but I guess I never realized 00:06:19
the devastating effects the sun could have on us. 00:06:24
It's amazing, Jennifer. 00:06:26
Solar storms have caused billions of dollars worth of satellite damage in the last 20 years. 00:06:27
They have caused blackouts and will always be a hazard for astronauts working in space. 00:06:33
Satellites, like SOHO, ACE, and IMAGE, and their replacements, will be our only means 00:06:40
of keeping track of when the next storm hits Earth's magnetic field. 00:06:46
If students would like to learn more about how the sun works and about solar storms, 00:06:49
they can visit the Sun-Earth Day website, which was developed by the Sun-Earth Connection 00:06:54
Education Forum, in collaboration with the NASA Office of Space Science. 00:06:58
Thank you so much, Dr. Odenwald. 00:07:02
You know, Dan has been working on some websites about the sun. 00:07:04
Let's go see what he's up to. 00:07:07
Valoración:
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Eres el primero. Inicia sesión para valorar el vídeo.
Idioma/s:
en
Materias:
Matemáticas
Niveles educativos:
▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
      • Nivel Intermedio
Autor/es:
NASA LaRC Office of Education
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
171
Fecha:
28 de mayo de 2007 - 16:53
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
NASAs center for distance learning
Duración:
07′ 09″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
480x360 píxeles
Tamaño:
43.00 MBytes

Del mismo autor…

Ver más del mismo autor

EducaMadrid, Plataforma Educativa de la Comunidad de Madrid

Plataforma Educativa EducaMadrid