Summer 2015 REU Projects

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Project type and supervisor
  Project title and brief description
(Click title for details)

shock
Modeling with 
Dana Longcope 
  Simulating Shocks in Solar Flares
Solar flares occur when a large amount of magnetic energy is released through magnetic reconnection and converted into thermal and kinetic energy of plasmas. Post-reconnection magnetic field lines retract like an elastic string, and create shocks that can heat plasma to tens of millions of Kelvins. In this project the student will run a computer program to solve the dynamical equations for the retracting field line, and study how the shape of the initial field line influences the density and temperature of the shocked fluid.
MDI sunspots
Data analysis with 
Andres Munoz-Jaramillo
and
Dana Longcope
  Detection of Magnetic Regions in the Sun
Sunspots are manifestation of strong magnetic regions in the Sun. The number of these magnetic regions changes with the solar cycle, and their collective effect keeps the solar cycle going. Systematically monitoring these magnetic regions is very important for understanding how the solar cycle works. In this project, student will create a long-term detailed database of magnetic regions to study the solar cycle.
reconnection
Data analysis with 
David McKenzie
and
Dana Longcope
  Measurements of Magnetic Reconnection to/from Emerging Active Regions
When viewed in X-rays or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, consists of many thin strands called loops. These loops are believed to trace out the magnetic fields, and are formed by a process called magnetic reconnection. Magnetic reconnection exchanges magnetic flux between neighbouring systems and releases magnetic energy. To understand this crucial physical process, we will analyze X-ray and EUV images and make quantitative measurements of magnetic flux involved in reconnection, using a technique pioneered by the team at MSU.
reconnection
Modeling with 
John Unverferth
and
Dana Longcope
  Modeling the Effects of Magnetic Field Variation on Solar Flares
Solar flares occur when a large amount of energy is converted to heat and fluid motion. Prior to the flare this energy is stored in a magnetic field filling the atmosphere. The energy is released suddenly when an electric field changes the connectivity of magnetic field lines in the corona. Solar flares occur in field lines which are weakest at the apex, and stronger at the feet. In this project, student will model magnetic energy release to understand the effects of this magnetic field variation on flare characteristics.
Optical instrumentation with
Joe Shaw
  Optical Instruments for Solar Eclipse Measurements
During a solar eclipse, the brightness and polarization of skylight is altered dramatically. Clear-sky radiance should be reduced by at least four orders of magnitude, while the polarization pattern should become azimuthally symmetric, centered at the zenith. Students on this project will help design and build instruments to observe an upcoming total solar eclipse in 2017. Students also will work with modeling and measuring atmospheric optical radiation.
SSEL Activities
Hardware development with 
David Klumpar 
  Space Hardware Development: Space Flight Systems for Space Science
Join our Small Satellite Team for Summer 2015! MSU's Space Science and Engineering Laboratory (SSEL) involves science and engineering students in highly responsible roles associated with the development of space flight systems for scientific applications. The student(s) will develop spaceflight hardware through design, development, and testing as a member of an interdisciplinary project student team. Participants must be U.S. citizens.