On the evening of Sunday, March 9, the SaddleBrooke Skygazers Astronomy Club will present Dr. Ashraf Moradi, a Postdoctoral Research Associate member of the Solar and Heliospheric Research Group at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The Program presentation will be at the DesertView Theater, located at 39900 S. Clubhouse Drive at 7 p.m. Dr. Moradi’s presentation will focus on an introduction to Solar and Helioshperic physics and her work on the transport of solar energetic particles (SEPs) into the inner Heliosphere.
The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory has had a long history studying the Sun’s atmosphere and magnetic field as it moves outward at supersonic speeds throughout the solar system until it encounters the local interstellar medium. The region of the interstellar space near the Sun that is “carved out” by the solar wind is known as the Heliosphere. A byproduct is that since the solar maximum is next year, the aurora occurrence will be more frequent.
Dr. Moradi received her PhD in Space Physics Science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2019 and is currently conducting research in the field of Solar and Heliospheric Physics in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. She specializes in the transport of solar energetic particles (SEPs) into the inner Heliosphere. Dr. Moradi models the non-turbulent and turbulent interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), release of millions of high-energy SEPs near the Sun, follows their trajectory into the interplanetary space, and records the characteristic parameters of the energetic particles’ flux such as intensity profiles and pitch-angle distributions in various distances from the Sun. We currently have a fleet of spacecraft orbiting Earth and the Sun and a worldwide neutron monitor network that records the solar wind speed, magnetic field, ion composition, kinetic energy and particle flux. We can then compare our results to the spacecraft data such as WIND, ACE, Pamela, AMS-02 instrument aboard the international space station and in the near future, Solar Orbiter and GOES 11-18 data.
The SaddleBrooke Skygazers Astronomy Club meets monthly (and typically) on the second Sunday evening (at 7 p.m.) in the DesertView Theater. The spring/summer star parties are scheduled on Wednesday April 16, Tuesday May 1 and Thursday, June 5 in the Softball Field parking lot. The public is welcome to both meetings and star parties. Club and Star Party information can be obtained by reviewing our website (at sbazsky.xakt.me) or by emailing Sam Miller at twoyosemite@gmail.com.
