Signatures of Magnetic Reconnection in Solar Flares

Advisor: Angela DesJardins

Due to its dynamic activity, the sun has a great impact on everyday lives in our natural and technological world. A direct hit by a coronal mass ejection can knock out satellites, can knock out satellites, disrupt radio communication, endanger astronauts in space, and even spur power grid failures. The more advanced warning we have of these massive explosions, the more we can prevent harmful effects. So how do we predict a solar flare? Most solar physicists agree that that a process called "magnetic reconnection" plays a significant role in the initiation and evolution of a flare. What we don't know is, how, why, and where does the reconnection occur? In order to come closer to being able to answer these questions, the goal of this project is to examine X-ray and UV signatures of magnetic reconnection.

The student involved with this project will use a graphical user interface to create and analyze data for flares observed by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). In addition, data from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE; UV images) and SoHO's Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI; magnetic field strength) will be used. The student will learn about how X-ray footpoints and UV ribbons are produced in solar flares and how X-ray and UV images and magnetic field data can help us understand magnetic reconnection in flares. They will learn about how modern space instruments work, and how their data are analyzed to develop a coherent picture of the physical processes taking place. The student should be very comfortable with computers, including the Unix operating system. Prior knowledge about solar flares and IDL is preferred.

You can read about a related REU project at http://solar.physics.montana.edu/home/www/reu/2010/mrobinson/ .