Maybe you have seen the gorgeous solar videos below. If not, you are in for a treat.
In a recent interview, Dr. Francis Collins spoke of science as “something that’s satisfying. It’s beautiful. And if you’re a scientist who’s also a believer, you just got a glimpse of God’s mind.” I find it compelling that the sun, an environment so hostile to us, so alien to our evolution, should be so beautiful. If we are merely material beings, sacks of chemistry that are the result of random processes, why should we find the sun beautiful? These videos are processed, of course — we can’t see the things they show with our naked eyes. But during total eclipses we can see some of them, and the unprocessed version is just as compelling (maybe more so).
I was introduced to these videos through the University of Louisville Department of Physics & Astronomy’s Public Astronomic Lecture Series (PALS). From the mission statement for this series:
As part of our mission as a Metropolitan Research University and to build on the success of the Bullitt Lecture in Astronomy, members of our department and visiting lecturers will hold approximately one evening public lecture per month during autumn and spring semesters. Talks will last no more than one hour, and there will be a chance for questions and to talk with the speaker afterward. This is ideal for students of any age and members of the general public.
PALS talks are held at a local restaurant, Monnik. I often give presentations for the series (as a regular “visiting lecturer”). In October Matthew Nichols from the University of Louisville spoke on the sun. He included these videos in his presentation. His talk was titled “CMES, Flares & Prominences the Solar Flarewell Tour” (the cool AI-generated graphic at top is his!). His abstract:
Enjoy the solar system’s greatest pyrotechnic show presented by the Sun! While the Sun generally provides a warm glow each day, occasionally it rudely belches out charged particles and radiation in the form of coronal mass ejections (cmes), flares, and prominences. Join us as we explore these phenomena, including what causes them, how to predict them, a historical perspective on recorded events, and how they may impact the habitability of planets.
“Greatest pyrotechnic show” is right!
