Ask a space weather researcher

On the sidelines at European Space Weather Week 2018, in Leuven, Belgium, ESA Web TV caught up with three scientists taking part in this gathering, Europe's foremost event focussed how our Sun affects our planet through the phenomenon known as space weather.

We spoke with Dr Petra Vanlommel, a science communicator at the Royal Observatory's Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence in Brussels, Dr Lucilla Alfonsi, a scientist at Rome's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, and Ellen Clarke, a geomagnetism researcher at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh.

Each guest provided a short but enlightening answer to a single question related to their field of research, and we asked:

• What is space weather?
• How does space weather affect modern navigation by satellite?
• What was the famous 1859 Carrington Event?