The sun: a user's manual

1. Looking at the Sun

Sun as clock

The solar year

Sun as god

Eclipse as weapon

The Sun as astronomical object

Sunspots

Colour coding

A layered Sun

Satellites

Proxies and aliases

2. Inside the Sun

A new source of solar energy

The solar onion

The magnetic Sun

Other suns

Other solar systems

3. The Changeable Sun

The young Sun

The middle-aged Sun

Sunspots and auroras

Shortlived events

4. Sun and Climate

The faint young Sun

Ice ages

Climate in history

The missing link

Shifting climates

5. Sun and Life

Early days

Getting there

Ice and waves

Human origins

6. Sun and Health

Wavelengths

SAD

Skin

Bone

Eyes

7. Space Weather

Communications

Satellites

Power grids and pipelines

The human target

Forecasting

8. Solar Energy

Passive solar power

Solar heating

Photovoltaics

A modest solution

Endnotes

References

Index