Advisor: Dana Longcope
The Sun's magnetic field floats to the surface in the form of concentrated, slender tubes. When it first reaches the surface, it appears as a two regions of opposing magnetic polarity, often including sunspots where the field is the strongest. We believe it is possible to learn about the structure of the rising flux tube by carefully studying the way the field spreads out across the solar surface (i.e. the emergence). We hope to ultimately answer questions like: What is the shape of the tube before it reaches the surface? Is the field within the tube twisted?
The student will use a computer program which follows the magnetic field in the area where an active region is emerging. The goal of the project is to study the time evolution of several magnetic quantities in a large number of emergences in order to make general statements about the flux tube. The student should have studied classical mechanics and electromagnetism, and have some experience working with computers. Previous knowledge of IDL is desirable, but not required.
For information related to this project, see Jacob Brown's 2008 REU Research Log and Presentation.