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Laboratory Astrophysics: Bringing a Star to Earth
Prof. Mike Brown, Swarthmore College

I'll discuss several questions posed by solar physics and astrophysics and describe how these questions are being addressed in the SSX plasma physics laboratory at Swarthmore College.  Some of the questions include: How do stars burn so hot for so long?  How do the Sun and stars generate magnetic fields?  Why is the Sun's atmosphere 1000 times hotter than its surface?  How do astrophysical objects generate super-energetic particles?  These questions are related and being studied at SSX.

Mike Brown is the Morris L. Clothier Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Swarthmore College.  His research interests are plasma physics, experimental physics (SSX), plasma turbulence, magnetic reconnection, solar physics and fusion.  Prof. Brown is currently conducting experiments in magneto-inertial fusion (MIF).  His papers and other information can be found on his website: http://plasma.physics.swarthmore.edu/