List of Figures vii Preface xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Getting Started 3 Chapter 2: The Secret heart of the Sun 15 Chapter 3: The Deep Interrior 35 Chapter 4: Order and Choas: The Convection Zone 57 Chapter 5: Looking Inside from the Outside 75 Chapter 6: The Hot Atmosphere 99 Chapter 7: The Magnetic Atmosphere 119 Chapter 8: The Middle Kingdon: The Chromosphere and Transtiton Zone 141 Chapter 9: Active Regions 155 Chapter 10: Explosions on the Sun 173 Chapter 11: The Corona and the Wind 199 Chapter 12: "Like a Tea Tray in the Sky" 219 Chapter 13: Solar and Stellar Cycles 237 Chapter 14: The Sun and Climate 253 Chapter 15: A Few Words: Where Do We Go from Here? 269 Notes 271 Glossary 297 Index 299
This book surveys solar astronomy, treating all parts of the sun from the inside out. It highlights how much interesting research is going on about the sun and is illustrated with a wide variety of examples. -- Jay Pasachoff, Williams College This is a well conceived book, written by an experienced researcher and writer who has a gift for concise explanation and clear imagery. It is also timely. Zirker presents the results of modern solar physics in a form appealing to the intelligent lay reader just as we are going through solar maximum. His book may become the standard popular reference on the sun for the next decade. -- Larry Marschall, author of "Supernova Story"
Jack B. Zirker is Astronomer Emeritus and the former Director of the National Solar Observatory. He is the author of Total Eclipses of the Sun (Princeton).
[Zirker's] informal style keeps things moving along swiftly, while balancing the latest findings with background on the pioneers of the field. He shows how solar research has grown from inspired speculation into a flourishing science. A thorough introduction. -- Ben Longstaff New Scientist Journey from the Center of the Sun is written with the experience, perspective, and insight of one who has spent decades in solar physics... Zirker sets out to deal with it all, and does an admirable job. He fits the many pieces together in an eminently satisfying manner... At such a reasonable price, Journey from the Center of the Sun should be purchased and read by anyone with an interest in solar astrophysics. -- Loren W. Acton Physics Today The book's title amounts to an outline. But before jumping in, Zirker gives readers a basic overview of the Sun's structure to frame the rest. This is followed by a summary of major unsolved solar problems, many of them longstanding... Then it's down to the solar engine room: the core, where thermonuclear reactions make everything go. Zirker provides a detailed description of hoe the Sun works. At times he will tell about unfamiliar processes, such as quantum tunneling as protons collide, but his explanations are clear. -- Robert Burnham Sky & Telescope
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