The Sun - A Comprehensive View of Our Star

Solar physics is a research field to which Japan makes significant ongoing contributions, including its satellite programs (particularly Yohkoh and Hinode), studies using numerical simulations, and long-term, world-standard studies of solar variations. The authors of this book are all world experts in a wide range of topics in the field.
This textbook is designed to provide an undergraduate-level basic knowledge on the Sun and its connection to our daily life on the one hand (space weather) and to general stellar phenomena on the other. The contents have been carefully selected and arranged so that the reader can obtain a well-balanced understanding of the Sun, our closest star. Anticipated readers are undergraduate and graduate students, those working on science communication and public outreach, amateur astronomers, and of course members of the general public who are interested in astronomy.
The English translation of this book, originally in Japanese, was facilitated by artificial intelligence. The content was later revised by the authors for accuracy.

List of contents

Overview.- Internal Structure, Generation and Flow of Energy.- Helioseismology: Probing the Sun's Interior.- Methods and Devices for Observing the Solar Atmosphere.- The Sun's Atmosphere and Active Regions.- Sun s Cyclical Activities and Dynamo Mechanism.- Solar Explosions: Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).- Coronal Heating.- Solar Wind and Heliosphere.- Space Weather / Long-Term Solar Variability and Climate.- The Sun as a Star.- Information.

About the author

Takashi Sakurai received his D.Sc. in astronomy from the University of Tokyo in 1978. He began his academic career at the University of Tokyo and later joined the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) as an assistant professor in 1988. He was promoted to professor in 1992 and served until his retirement in 2016. He subsequently held the position of administrative director at the Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology from 2016 to 2022. He became a fellow of the Japan Geophysical Union in 2014 and has played key editorial roles, including editor-in-chief of Solar Physics from 2005 to 2016 and managing editor of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan from 1995 to 1996. He has been an editorial board member of Living Reviews in Solar Physics since 2003. He was also the president of the Astronomical Society of Japan from 2013 to 2014.
Kazunari Shibata received his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Kyoto University in 1983. He began his academic career at Aichi University of Education and later joined the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan as an associate professor in 1991. He was appointed professor at Kyoto University in 1999 and served as the director of the Kwasan and Hida Observatories from 2004 to 2019. Following his retirement in 2020, he held the position of distinguished visiting professor at Doshisha University from 2021 to 2024. He was awarded the Chushiro Hayashi Prize in 2002, the Chandrasekhar Prize in 2019, and the Hale Prize in 2020. He was named a fellow of the Japan Geophysical Union in 2021 and served as the president of the Astronomical Society of Japan from 2017 to 2018.
Takashi Sekii received his D.Sc. in astronomy from the University of Tokyo in 1990. He spent the following decade as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. In 2000, he joined NAOJ as an associate professor, and since 2022 he has been a professor in charge of the graduate school operation in NAOJ. He served on the editorial board of Parity, a Japanese science magazine published by Maruzen, from 2007 to 2018. His research interests include solar and stellar physics, with a particular focus on helioseismology.
Shin Toriumi received his D.Sc. in earth and planetary science from the University of Tokyo in 2014. He began his research career as a fellow at NAOJ and later held the International Top Young Fellowship at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science from 2019 to 2022, at which he was appointed associate professor in 2022. He was awarded the Daiwa Adrian Prize in 2016 as part of a Japanese team led by Hirohisa Hara at NAOJ, the Space Science Distinguished Young Scientist Award from the Society for Promotion of Space Science in 2022, and the Nishida Prize of the Japan Geoscience Union in 2025.

Summary

Solar physics is a research field to which Japan makes significant ongoing contributions, including its satellite programs (particularly Yohkoh and Hinode), studies using numerical simulations, and long-term, world-standard studies of solar variations. The authors of this book are all world experts in a wide range of topics in the field.
This textbook is designed to provide an undergraduate-level basic knowledge on the Sun and its connection to our daily life on the one hand (space weather) and to general stellar phenomena on the other. The contents have been carefully selected and arranged so that the reader can obtain a well-balanced understanding of the Sun, our closest star. Anticipated readers are undergraduate and graduate students, those working on science communication and public outreach, amateur astronomers, and of course members of the general public who are interested in astronomy.
The English translation of this book, originally in Japanese, was facilitated by artificial intelligence. The content was later revised by the authors for accuracy.

Product details

• Assisted by: Takashi Sakurai (Editor), Takashi Sekii (Editor), Takashi Sekii et al (Editor), Kazunari Shibata (Editor), Shin Toriumi (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 13.06.2026
• EAN: 9789819560271
• ISBN: 978-981-9560-27-1
• Illustrations: Approx. 400 p. 200 illus. in color.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > Astronomy; Astrophysik, Astrophysics, Planetary Science, Solar Physics, solar wind, space weather, solar activity, solar interior, Solar Atmosphere, Solar Telescopes and Observing Tools, Solar-Stellar Connections