WE PROPOSE TO USE THE SPACE WEATHER MODELING FRAMEWORK SWMF TO STUDY THE STATE OF THE HELIOSPHERE AND THE INTERPLANETARYENVIRONMENT FOR DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE SUN THROUGH ITS EVOLUTION. THE STUDY WILL INCLUDE: SIMULATING THE STELLAR WINDS OF SOLAR ANALOGS AT DIFFERENT AGES DRIVEN BY LOW-RESOLUTION MAGNETOGRAMS NOW AVAILABLE FOR SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF STARS; STUDYING YOUNG AND ACTIVE FAST-ROTATING SUNS AND EXAMINING THEIR FLARES AND SUPERFLARES BY SIMULATING THEIR CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS CMES; USING BOTH OPTICAL AND X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF STARS TO CONSTRAIN FLARING RATES; INVESTIGATING OTHER POSSIBLE DYNAMIC MECHANISMS TO TRIGGER SUPERFLARES SUCH AS THE AZIMUTHAL STRETCHING OF CORONAL LOOPS AS THE RESULT OF THE FAST ROTATION; STUDYING THE ROLE OF CMES IN THE SOLAR MASS LOSS RATE OVER TIME POTENTIALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE FAINT YOUNG SUN PARADOX; AND INVESTIGATING THE COSMIC RAY/SEP GENERATION TRANSPORT AND MODULATION FOR DIFFERENT AGES OF THE SUN IN QUIESCENT AND SUPERFLARE CONDITIONS. THE END RESULT OF THE PROJECT WILL BE A COMPLETE PHYSICS-BASED DESCRIPTION OF THE HELIOSPHERE THROUGH TIME AND A GENERAL SCALING OF THE INTERPLANETARY ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE EARTH AND THE OTHER PLANETS WERE FORMED.
$835,009FY2016National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC