21PHY336 SPACE PHYSICS-

UNIT I-

Brief history of solar-terrestrial physics – The variables Sun and the heliosphere, Earth’s space environment and upper atmosphere.

UNIT II-

Space plasma physics – single particle motion, plasma state, Fluid description, MHD & Kinetic theory, Applications.

UNIT III-

Solar wind & Interplanetary Magnetic Field(IMF), Shocks and Instabilities in space.

UNIT IV-

Solar wind interactions with magnetized planets – Introduction, planetary magnetic fields, spherical harmonic expansions, geomagnetic field and its measurements, variations in Earth’s field.

UNIT V-

Magnetosphere – Dynamics, Sw-Magnetosphere interactions; Ionosphere, Currents in space and Ionosphere; Neutral – Dynamics.

REFERENCES:

  1. Hannu E.J. Koskinen, Physics-of Space Storms, Springer, 2011.
  2. Molwin, M., An Introduction to Space Weather, CUP, 2008.