Title
The star that surrounds us: the solar corona and wind
Abstract
Arguably, more is known about the center of our Sun than its outermost layers. In this talk, I will review the outer reaches of the Sun, highlighting the corona and the stellar wind that permeates the solar system. This nearby yet often overlooked part of astronomy offers a rich display of plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics: the temperature of the corona is over 1 MK, an unsolved problem that still persists today. The interplanetary magnetic field is shaped like a ballerina's flared skirt due to the rotation of the Sun. The outer solar wind hits the very local ISM, producing a series of three shocks, but only for charged particles. This review will touch on all these topics and more. Finally, I will give a brief overview of the Parker Solar Probe, a current NASA probe designed to fly closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft.
