Advisor: Aki Takeda
Montana State University (MSU) is home of Hinode/XRT Synoptic Composite Image Archive ( SCIA ), which is the archive of soft X-ray full-Sun images obtained with the X-Ray Telescope aboard the Hinode satellite. Our images are posted daily to the SolarMonitor , a popular site for solar researchers to check the current solar condition.
With this archive, we can study solar activities in terms of the Sun's radiation in soft X-ray wavelengths. In this project, we will process the XRT/SCIA images taken from 2006 to present to derive the soft X-ray irradiance during this period. The student will learn how to process Hinode/XRT FITS data for quantitative analysis using the data analysis software IDL(Interactive Data Language): data selection, derivation of temperature and emission measure, calculation of the XRT irradiance in the physical unit (W/m2), etc. This project is continued from 2021. This year, we will put emphasis on the data calibration to correct characteristic change of the instrument over 15 years of operation, and comparison with the observations by other instruments measuring the solar cycle variation.
As a bonus, the student will have a few opportunities to watch and learn how an international satellite project like Hinode is operated. As one of US institutes participating the Hinode satellite operation, we have a duty week in July, in which we take control of the XRT observation.
You can read about a related REU project in 2018 , which is being published in the Astrophysical Journal.