The image above is of the series of United States Post Office stamps (issued in 2021) that highlight images of the Sun as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credits: NASA/SDO/USPS.

Registration is required for this free, virtual event.

On November 12, 2024 at 7:00 PM, ET, Hamptons Observatory and Suffolk County Community College are honored to present a free, virtual lecture by Dr. Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA’s Senior Advisor for New Initiatives and the driving force behind its Frontier Development Laboratory. Dr. Guhathakurta will discuss Heliophysics, aka Space Weather, and how the Living With a Star (LWS) program targets specific aspects of the Sun-Earth system that affect life and society.

Years ago, the study of the Sun-Earth connection was edgy stuff; few scientists had the breadth of knowledge to marshal the many disciplines required to gain a full picture. Over recent decades, more and more practitioners of disciplines like solar physics, geophysics, atmospheric physics, cosmic ray physics and magnetohydrodynamics, collaborated and helped to create a synthesis and a new discipline that today is called “Heliophysics,” popularly known as Space Weather. 

Today, a single strong solar flare could bring civilization to its knees. Modern society has come to depend on technologies sensitive to solar radiation and geomagnetic storms. Particularly vulnerable are intercontinental power grids, interplanetary robotic and human exploration, satellite operations and communications, and GPS navigation. These technologies are woven into the fabric of daily life, from health care and finance to basic utilities. Both short- and long-term forecasting models are urgently needed to mitigate the effects of solar storms and to anticipate their collective impact on aviation, astronaut safety, terrestrial climate and more.

As human activity expands into the solar system, the need for accurate space weather and space climate forecasting is expanding, too. Space probes are now orbiting or en route for flybys of Mercury, Venus, Earth and the Moon, Mars, Vesta, Ceres, Saturn, and Pluto. Agencies around the world are preparing to send robotic spacecraft into interplanetary space. Each of these missions (plus others on the drawing board) has a unique need to know when a solar storm will pass through its corner of space or how the subsequent solar cycle will behave. By monitoring the Sun from widely different angles simultaneously, they provide early warnings of explosive events on the Sun as they develop on the solar far side. These explosive events may pose threatening conditions for both earth-bound commerce and national security, as well as orbiting satellites and probes, both robotic and human-tended.

Even during a relatively weak solar maximum, the potential consequences that such events can have on society are too important to ignore. The challenges associated with space weather affect all developed and developing countries. It is basic research with a high public purpose and the stated goal of the Living With A Star program is to achieve the Sun-Earth, Sun-Planet system understanding. 

Dr. Guhathakurta has led the development of Heliophysics as an integrated scientific discipline from which fundamental discoveries about our universe provide direct societal benefits. She made possible flagship missions (e.g. the Solar Dynamics Observatory, Van Allen Probes, Solar Orbiter Collaboration and Parker Solar Probe), including STEREO, that would revolutionize our understanding of how the Sun shapes space weather in the solar system. Since 2017, she has been the driving force (at NASA Headquarters and at NASA Ames) behind the growth of Frontier Development Laboratory, both in terms of the breadth of problem areas tackled, as well as in the number of agency and industry partners (e.g. Google, Nvidia, IBM, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Planet). She is currently a Senior Advisor for New Initiatives at Goddard Space Flight Center and Program Scientist at NASA’s Heliophysics Division.

Hamptons Observatory extends its deepest thanks to Dr. Guhathakurta for generously taking the time to share her expertise and to co-host Suffolk County Community College for their kind collaboration.

While Hamptons Observatory offers this and other public lectures free-of-charge, donations to support our programs are needed and deeply appreciated. To make a tax-deductible donation to support our mission, please "Add a Donation to Hamptons Observatory" on the left side of the registration page, below the area where you select the number of tickets to this event, and we will receive 100% of the funds you donate, no fees will be deducted or paid by you. Please note: you are not obligated to also "Add a contribution to keep the platform we use 100% free!" although Zeffy, too, would appreciate your support. Thanks!

Hamptons Observatory (HO), a 501(c)(3) New York State nonprofit since 2005. Its mission: to foster interest in science, particularly astronomy, through educational programs. Lectures, star parties, portable planetarium shows and other events are held frequently and often in collaboration with other nonprofit organizations. HO has an observatory in East Hampton that it is endeavoring to restore and to make accessible (in-person and remotely) to students, researchers, educators and the general public. We offer our public programs free of charge so that everyone has the opportunity to learn about and enjoy the wonders of the universe. For further information about us or to join our mailing list, please visit our website: HamptonsObservatory.org