7.30pm – 9pm

A series of public lectures named in honour of Sir Bernard Lovell, the Founder and first Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Jodrell Bank is proud to be hosting the Lovell Lecture series in our First Light Pavilion. We will be hosting regular evening lectures and are delighted to welcome leading astrophysicists to Jodrell Bank.

LECTURE 7: The Music of the Sun

The Sun is like a giant musical instrument: In the outer layers of the solar interior, turbulent convection generates sound waves that are trapped inside the Sun. These sound waves have particular frequencies, just like notes on a piano. By observing the notes that the Sun plays, we can work out various things about the solar interior, such as how the temperature varies as we move from the surface to the core. However, the frequencies of the Sun’s notes can be seen to vary very slightly with time, such that their frequencies are at their highest when the Sun has lots of sunspots on it’s surface, and at their lowest when the Sun’s surface is devoid of spots. Sunspots are regions where the Sun’s magnetic field becomes very strong. This magnetic field is generated somewhere in the solar interior, but the exact details of how this happens remain unclear. In this talk, Anne-Marie will describe our efforts to use the music of the Sun to work out what happens to the solar magnetic field beneath the visible surface of the Sun. She will also describe how we can now apply the same techniques to other stars in an effort to work out just how typical a star our Sun actually is.

Speaker Bio

Anne-Marie is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics at University of Warwick. Her research focusses on helioseismology, which uses sound waves that are trapped in the solar interior to work out what’s going on beneath the Sun’s visible surface. Anne-Marie is particularly interested in using these sound waves to learn about the Sun’s magnetic field, which is generated and maintained in the solar interior. Fun fact: Anne-Marie is a huge Coventry City Football Club fan and used to work on the turnstiles when she was an undergraduate student so she could watch the matches for free.

This Lovell Lecture is produced in collaboration with the Creative Manchester Research Platform at The University of Manchester. It forms part of Creative Manchester’s ‘Solstice and Equinox series’, a series of events which brings innovative research to the public.

Pre-lecture dining 

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer at pre-booked dining option for this Lovell Lecture. However, our First Light Café will be open selling delicious hot and cold options and sweet treats.

Please note all our products are prepared in a kitchen that handle all allergens.