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Olivia Letts
Mr. Percival
D.E. Astronomy, Per. 3
21 May 2013
Eugene
Parker and his Intellectual Contributions
As
a respected solar astrophysicist, Eugene Parker is best known for his
contributions regarding theories on the characteristics and origins of solar
winds, the heliosphere (the magnetic bubble predominated by the sun which
includes the solar system), and Earth’s magnetic field. Parker, still alive today, was born in
1927 in Houghton, Michigan.
Physics captured his heart at a very young age, and by high school, he
was bent on turning it into his career path as he had always had a powerful
curiosity about why things do what they do. He received his B.S. degree in physics from Michigan State
University and a Ph.D from Caltech in 1951. From 1951 to 1958, he held many positions at the University
of Utah in the physics, astrophysics and astronomy departments. From 1955 onward to the present day, he
has been a professor at the University of Chicago, where he has conducted his
most important research and continues to do so. His discovery of solar wind, a flow of plasma extending into
space at speeds of 200 to 600 miles per second, forever changed astronomy. Until Parker’s recognition of this
ineluctable physical presence in 1958, solar wind had repeatedly eluded known
science. Scientists had simply
regarded interstellar space as a
vacuum; it did not occur to most that a stiff wind filled it with ionized gas. In publishing his theory, Parker made
calculations and explained how the solar corona expands to the outer reaches of
the solar system, and this became an intellectual building block for the realm
of astrophysics. He showed that
although the Sun’s corona is attracted to the Sun due to the presence of solar
gravity, it is such an impressive conductor of heat that at very large
distances from the Sun, its outer atmosphere escapes into interstellar space as
gravity
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weakens. Parker began delving into
the matter partially because of Sydney Chapman’s model of
a hot gas that must extend into
space and the comet tail blowing away from the Sun in Ludwig Biermann’s
theory. He connected them both to
the same phenomenon, and his theory of solar wind was born. At first his very strongly-written
paper on it was rejected by two reviewers, but it was saved by the famous
astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Still, the idea about this intricate flow of particles from
the Sun received a lot of criticism from the scientific community. In the 1960s, the theory of solar wind
was confirmed via direct satellite observations by the Soviet Union. It helped explain many other different
phenomena as a result, like the formation of distant stars, and geomagnetic
storms. Over four decades later,
Parker received the distinguished 2003 Kyoto Prize for Lifetime Achievement for
Basic Science. He was incredibly
important to the scientific community, as his many books, research papers, and
memberships in advisory committees (especially the American Geophysical Union)
denote. He was elected in 1967 to
the National Academy of Sciences.
His findings have enriched the study of interplanetary space; his book Cosmical
Magnetic Fields has educated many on the effects of the magnetic fields of
various bodies on X-ray emissions.
The American Geophysical Union gave Parker an award in 1990 for his
research contributions, unselfish scientific involvement, and technical
leadership, and in 1989 President George H.W. Bush awarded him the National
Medal of Science. In 2000 he
reminded the scientific community about the erratic nature of the Sun with his
article, expounding upon the challenges of applying laws and measurements of
physics to its studies. He wrote
about the dangers posed by space radiation for future interplanetary
missions. Parker realizes that
many fundamental questions have yet to be answered, such as what heats the
corona to almost two million degrees Celsius. He hopes that the new generation of space and ground-based
telescopes can aid in finding the answers, especially in the study of the space
between the sun and the edge of the solar system.
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Bibliography
Roach,
John. "Astrophysicist Recognized for Discovery of Solar Wind." National
Geographic.
National Geographic Society, 27 Aug.
2003. Web. 20 May 2013.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0827_030827_kyotoprizeparker_2.html>.
Tatarewicz,
Joseph M. "Eugene N. Parker." American Geophysical Union, n.d. Web.
20 May
2013.
<http://www.agu.org/honorsprogram/bowie_lectures/parker.shtml>.
"Class
of 1944- Eugene N. Parker." Royal Oak High School, n.d. Web. 20 May 2013.
<http://www.rohshalloffame.com/class-of/1944/parker-eugene-n.html>.
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