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Project type and supervisor
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Project title and brief description
(Click title for
details)
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Data analysis with
Maria
Kazachenko and
Jiong
Qiu
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Magnetic Reconnection in Solar Eruptive Events
Flares are spectacular manifestations of explosive energy release
in the Sun's atmosphere. It is understood that the energy to fuel
flares is provided by the Sun's magnetic fields, most probably
through a physical process called magnetic reconnection.
In this project, we will
search for better understanding of the relationship between
magnetic reconnection and large-scale eruptions.
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Hardware development with
Tom Rust
and
Charles
Kankelborg
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Extreme Ultraviolet Optics for
Space Flight.
Much of what we know about the solar atmosphere comes from space based
extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations. The Multi-Order Solar EUV
Spectrograph (MOSES) is a rocket payload built at MSU that was launched
successfully in February 2006. The goal of this project is to enhance
the performance of the MOSES payload by developing new instrument
testing techniques.
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Data analysis with
Dana
Longcope
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How do the Magnetic Pieces Fit Together?
The Sun's activity is caused by the interaction between the
different magnetic regions on its visible surface, such as sunspots.
The student will learn about the structure of the magnetic field in
the solar atmosphere and the Physics underlying the energetic activity
which it drives, for example solar flares.
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Data analysis with
Dibyendu
Nandi
and
Richard
Canfield
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Measurement and Analysis of Solar
Active Region Twist
Solar active regions are comprised of concentrated magnetic fields.
When stressed by twisting, these fields contain energy
that can subsequently be released via explosive eruptions such as
Flares or Coronal Mass Ejections.
In this project, the student will learn how to quantify magnetic field
twist through the reduction and analysis of solar magnetogram
instrument data.
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Hardware development with
David
Klumpar
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Space Hardware Development: Space Flight Systems
The student(s) will develop spaceflight hardware through design,
development, and testing as a member of an interdisciplinary project
student team.
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Numerical modeling with
Charles
Kankelborg
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Numerical Modeling of Solar Magnetic Fields
The student will simulate solar magnetic fields and eruptive events
using a new numerical model. The student will learn about equilibria
and instabilities in magnetized plasmas, modeling techniques and
visualization of 3D numerical data.
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Data analysis with
Sabrina Savage
and
David McKenzie
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Reconnection Observations: The Bigger Picture
When magnetic fields rearrange themselves in a solar flare through the
process of magnetic reconnection, newly formed magnetic loops
retract away from the reconnection site at speeds of hundreds of km/s.
The student will learn to gather data from several
satellite instruments and process the images in order to find and
track these flows close to the Sun as well as
much farther out. |