The heat death of the sun at the dawn of the Anthropocene

2014 ◽  
pp. 66-86
Author(s):  
Allen MacDuffie
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
Heat Death

The End of Time: Evolution, Extinction, and the Fate of Meaning

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Time Evolution ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Speculative Realism ◽  
Contemporary Science ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Heat Death ◽  
The Universe

Approximately one trillion, trillion, trillion (101728) years from now, the universe will suffer a “heat death.” What are the existential implications of this fact for us, today? This chapter explores this question through Lyotard’s fable of the explosion of the sun, and its uptake and extension in the works of Keith Ansell Pearson and Ray Brassier. Lyotard proposes the fable as a kind of “post-metanarrative” sometimes told to justify research and development, and indeed the meaning of our individual lives, after credulity in metanarratives has been lost: it replaces the adventure of the subject of history aimed towards the perfection and emancipation of the human with the adventure of inhuman, negentropic processes aimed towards the survival and extension of complexity. Negotiating Lyotard’s thought in relation to contemporary movements such as transhumanism and speculative realism, this chapter reflects on the existential significance of the “deep time” revealed by contemporary science.

Frederic Leighton's Flaming June, Thermodynamics, and the Heat Death of the Sun

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-125
Author(s):  
Laura Franchetti
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Second Law Of Thermodynamics ◽  
Second Law ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Dominant Focus ◽  
Cultural Milieu ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Heat Death ◽  
The Impact

At the close of the nineteenth century, amid pervasive fears of decadence and widespread pessimism, Frederic Leighton (1830–96) completed Flaming June (1895). Taking as its starting point Victorian responses to the work that seem incomprehensible to viewers today, this paper examines the possible meaning behind Flaming June's more impenetrable iconography. The following discussion highlights the significance of thermodynamics in the work's cultural context. It examines the impact of an implication of the second law of thermodynamics, known as the Sun's heat death – a fated apocalyptic event – and suggests that this resonated with late Victorian audiences plagued by concerns of degeneration and decadence. Considered within this context, this paper reveals further layers of meaning embedded within the imagery of Flaming June available to a Victorian audience, but which have since been eclipsed by a dominant focus on other aspects of the painting's cultural milieu.

Chromospheric activity as a function of age in main-sequence stars

1966 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 40-43
Author(s):  
O. C. Wilson ◽  
A. Skumanich
Keyword(s):  
Main Sequence ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Main Sequence Stars ◽  
Tentative Conclusion ◽  
Chromospheric Activity ◽  
General Field ◽  
Large Clusters

Evidence previously presented by one of the authors (1) suggests strongly that chromospheric activity decreases with age in main sequence stars. This tentative conclusion rests principally upon a comparison of the members of large clusters (Hyades, Praesepe, Pleiades) with non-cluster objects in the general field, including the Sun. It is at least conceivable, however, that cluster and non-cluster stars might differ in some fundamental fashion which could influence the degree of chromospheric activity, and that the observed differences in chromospheric activity would then be attributable to the circumstances of stellar origin rather than to age.

Galactic orbits of stars

1966 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 93-97
Author(s):  
Richard Woolley
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Potential Field ◽  
High Velocity ◽  
Velocity Vector ◽  
Variable Stars ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Proper Motions ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
The Galaxy

It is now possible to determine proper motions of high-velocity objects in such a way as to obtain with some accuracy the velocity vector relevant to the Sun. If a potential field of the Galaxy is assumed, one can compute an actual orbit. A determination of the velocity of the globular clusterωCentauri has recently been completed at Greenwich, and it is found that the orbit is strongly retrograde in the Galaxy. Similar calculations may be made, though with less certainty, in the case of RR Lyrae variable stars.

Seti Space Missions

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 761-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Maccone
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Waves ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Gravitational Lens ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Space Antenna ◽  
Focal Distance ◽  
Large Space ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Space Antennas ◽  
New Space

AbstractSETI from space is currently envisaged in three ways: i) by large space antennas orbiting the Earth that could be used for both VLBI and SETI (VSOP and RadioAstron missions), ii) by a radiotelescope inside the Saha far side Moon crater and an Earth-link antenna on the Mare Smythii near side plain. Such SETIMOON mission would require no astronaut work since a Tether, deployed in Moon orbit until the two antennas landed softly, would also be the cable connecting them. Alternatively, a data relay satellite orbiting the Earth-Moon Lagrangian pointL2would avoid the Earthlink antenna, iii) by a large space antenna put at the foci of the Sun gravitational lens: 1) for electromagnetic waves, the minimal focal distance is 550 Astronomical Units (AU) or 14 times beyond Pluto. One could use the huge radio magnifications of sources aligned to the Sun and spacecraft; 2) for gravitational waves and neutrinos, the focus lies between 22.45 and 29.59 AU (Uranus and Neptune orbits), with a flight time of less than 30 years. Two new space missions, of SETI interest if ET’s use neutrinos for communications, are proposed.

A Search for Dyson Spheres around Late-Type Stars in the Solar Neighborhood II

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 707-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Jugaku ◽  
Shiro Nishimura
Keyword(s):  
Solar Neighborhood ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Late Type ◽  
Solar Type

AbstractWe continued our search for partial (incomplete) Dyson spheres associated with 50 solar-type stars (spectral classes F, G, and K) within 25 pc of the Sun. No candidate objects were found.

Emergence of Twisted Magnetic Flux Related Sigmoidal Brightening

2000 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 263-264
Author(s):  
K. Sundara Raman ◽  
K. B. Ramesh ◽  
R. Selvendran ◽  
P. S. M. Aleem ◽  
K. M. Hiremath
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Ultra Violet ◽  
Active Regions ◽  
Morphological Properties ◽  
Energy Storage And Conversion ◽  
The Sun ◽  
X Rays ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Extended AbstractWe have examined the morphological properties of a sigmoid associated with an SXR (soft X-ray) flare. The sigmoid is cospatial with the EUV (extreme ultra violet) images and in the optical part lies along an S-shaped Hαfilament. The photoheliogram shows flux emergence within an existingδtype sunspot which has caused the rotation of the umbrae giving rise to the sigmoidal brightening.It is now widely accepted that flares derive their energy from the magnetic fields of the active regions and coronal levels are considered to be the flare sites. But still a satisfactory understanding of the flare processes has not been achieved because of the difficulties encountered to predict and estimate the probability of flare eruptions. The convection flows and vortices below the photosphere transport and concentrate magnetic field, which subsequently appear as active regions in the photosphere (Rust & Kumar 1994 and the references therein). Successive emergence of magnetic flux, twist the field, creating flare productive magnetic shear and has been studied by many authors (Sundara Ramanet al.1998 and the references therein). Hence, it is considered that the flare is powered by the energy stored in the twisted magnetic flux tubes (Kurokawa 1996 and the references therein). Rust & Kumar (1996) named the S-shaped bright coronal loops that appear in soft X-rays as ‘Sigmoids’ and concluded that this S-shaped distortion is due to the twist developed in the magnetic field lines. These transient sigmoidal features tell a great deal about unstable coronal magnetic fields, as these regions are more likely to be eruptive (Canfieldet al.1999). As the magnetic fields of the active regions are deep rooted in the Sun, the twist developed in the subphotospheric flux tube penetrates the photosphere and extends in to the corona. Thus, it is essentially favourable for the subphotospheric twist to unwind the twist and transmit it through the photosphere to the corona. Therefore, it becomes essential to make complete observational descriptions of a flare from the magnetic field changes that are taking place in different atmospheric levels of the Sun, to pin down the energy storage and conversion process that trigger the flare phenomena.

Polar Magnetic Field Reversals of the Sun in Maunder Minimum

2000 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 193-196
Author(s):  
V. I. Makarov ◽  
A. G. Tlatov
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Maunder Minimum ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Annual Rings ◽  
Field Reversal ◽  
Polar Magnetic Field ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Magnetic Field Reversal

AbstractA possible scenario of polar magnetic field reversal of the Sun during the Maunder Minimum (1645–1715) is discussed using data of magnetic field reversals of the Sun for 1880–1991 and the14Ccontent variations in the bi-annual rings of the pine-trees in 1600–1730 yrs.

Solar Filaments as Tracers of Subsurface Processes

2000 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 177-183
Author(s):  
D. M. Rust
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Coronal Mass Ejections ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Intermediate Stage ◽  
Coronal Plasma ◽  
Magnetic Helicity ◽  
The Sun ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Solar Filaments

AbstractSolar filaments are discussed in terms of two contrasting paradigms. The standard paradigm is that filaments are formed by condensation of coronal plasma into magnetic fields that are twisted or dimpled as a consequence of motions of the fields’ sources in the photosphere. According to a new paradigm, filaments form in rising, twisted flux ropes and are a necessary intermediate stage in the transfer to interplanetary space of dynamo-generated magnetic flux. It is argued that the accumulation of magnetic helicity in filaments and their coronal surroundings leads to filament eruptions and coronal mass ejections. These ejections relieve the Sun of the flux generated by the dynamo and make way for the flux of the next cycle.

Sunspot Groups as Tracers of Sub-Surface Processes

2000 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
M. H. Gokhale
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Indian Institute ◽  
Surface Processes ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Sunspot Groups

AbstractData on sunspot groups have been quite useful for obtaining clues to several processes on global and local scales within the sun which lead to emergence of toroidal magnetic flux above the sun’s surface. I present here a report on such studies carried out at Indian Institute of Astrophysics during the last decade or so.

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