Studying the hot, dense plasma produced by a solar flare

Advisor: Dana Longcope

A solar flare is a dramatic and sudden release of magnetic energy which heats a piece of the Sun's plasma to 10 million Kelvin or more. We can observe this hot plasma in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) using telescopes in space. Among the puzzling features in such observations are ridges of hot, dense plasma apparently lying at the base of vertical current sheets where the magnetic energy conversion occurs. Since we have only studied ridges in four flares to date, we are only beginning to understand how these structures are created and maintained during a flare.

In this REU project, the student will download sequences of EUV images from NASA spacecraft, searching for more examples of ridges in large solar flares. Images made at different EUV wavelengths will be used to compute the density and temperature in the ridge over the course of the flare. The student will then write programs to study and model the dynamics of these ridges and the current sheets above them.