SUNSCAPES: OUR MAGNETIC STARApril 9-September 5, 2005  NAS 19Credit: NASA, Lockheed MartinSunscapes: Our Magnetic Star, an exhibition of over 25 brilliant color photographs, opens April 9, 2005, at the American Museum of Natural History. On view in the IMAX® Corridor through September 5, 2005, the exhibition features dramatic photographs from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the Sun and its magnetic field. Sunscapes includes spectacular images taken from the NASA Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), the Large Angle and Spectrometric coronagraph (LASCO), and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) telescopes on the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Eruptions on the Sun interrupt communications, play havoc with navigation systems, generate radiation that is harmful to astronauts and airline passengers, and occasionally push power grids to failure. These eruptions and other phenomena are caused by the Sun's erratic magnetic field. Special optical systems and detectors allow us to image the violent atmosphere of the Sun, giving visual form to things our unaided eyes could never see.  NAS 20Credit: NASA, Lockheed MartinBringing together scientific detail and stunning artistry, Sunscapes: Our Magnetic Star is divided into four sections: "The Yellow Sun?", "The Solar Dynamo", "Thrown for a Loop", and "Solar Explosions". Among the highlights are images of sunspots (cold patches of intense magnetic field); coronal mass ejections (large, eruptive, explosive events caused by activity and variability of the Sun's magnetic field); and the Aurora Borealis ("Northern Lights" caused by the charged particles that escape from the Sun's gravitational pull interacting with the Earth's magnetic field) shown from space. Michael M. Shara, Curator and Curator-in-Charge of Astrophysics in the Museum's Division of Physical Sciences, is curating the installation of Sunscapes: Our Magnetic Star at the Museum. This exhibit was developed by the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) team. TRACE is a NASA small explorer mission developed at Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto, California.  NAS 21Credit: NASA, Lockheed Martin NAS 27Credit: NASA, Lockheed Martin |
