next up previous
Next: Lecturers and their experience Up: Introduction, Outline and Overview Previous: Introduction, Outline and Overview

Field of Study

This course is an introduction to the fields of Solar and Space Physics; it addresses the physics of plasmas in our solar system, emphasizing both observations and theory in a unified fashion. The domain of Space Physics is from Earth's upper atmosphere to the solar photosphere to the outer boundaries of our solar system where the solar wind encounters the local interstellar medium. Space Physics is sometimes defined as ``astrophysics of our solar system'', overlapping with solar physics in the study of the Sun.

This course should be of particular interest to people wanting to learn more about our solar system and near-Earth space environment, astrophysics, plasma physics, atmospheric physics, and solar-terrestrial interactions.



Iver Cairns
1999-08-04