Principles Of Heliophysics: a textbook on the universal processes behind planetary habitability

TL;DR

This textbook introduces the principles of heliophysics, emphasizing universal processes that influence planetary habitability and providing educational resources for students in related scientific fields.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive overview of heliophysics with a focus on planetary habitability, based on NASA-funded educational programs, including exercises and discussions for learners.

Findings

Universal processes underpin planetary habitability.

Long-term effects of stellar activity on planetary atmospheres.

Educational framework for heliophysics research and learning.

Abstract

Heliophysics is the system science of the physical connections between the Sun and the solar system. As the physics of the local cosmos, it embraces space weather and planetary habitability. The wider view of comparative heliophysics forms a template for conditions in exoplanetary systems and provides a view over time of the aging Sun and its magnetic activity, of the heliosphere in different settings of the interstellar medium and subject to stellar impacts, of the space physics over evolving planetary dynamos, and of the long-term influence on planetary atmospheres by stellar radiation and wind. Based on a series of NASA-funded summer schools for early-career researchers, this textbook is intended for students in physical sciences in later years of their university training and for beginning graduate students in fields of solar, stellar, (exo-)planetary, and planetary-system sciences. The book emphasizes universal processes from a perspective that draws attention to what provides Earth (and similar (exo-)planets) with a relatively stable setting in which life as we know it could thrive. The text includes 200 "Activities" in the form of exercises, explorations, literature readings, "what if" challenges, and group discussion topics; many of the Activities provide additional information complementing the main text. Solutions and discussions are included in an Appendix for a selection of the exercises.