Emily's Solar Page

Emily McLinden @ MSU

Solar Physics REU 2006

Studying Solar Flares in Hard X-Rays in order to Better Understand the Magnetic Topology of the Sun







Farewell BBQ Pictures




Project Description


The goal of my summer project is to understand where reconnection occurs with respect to the sun's magnetic field. I am using the RHESSI GUI to analyze flare number 4110410 with x-ray imaging. In addition I am using data from EIT, GOES, and BBSO in conjunction with imaging spectroscopy to better understand the nature of my particular flare. I am particularly interested in how and where hard x-rays are emmited as this is important for gaining insight into reconnection. Finally I am using the MPOLE Suite to map the magnetic topology of the sun as the flare evolves. Hopefully, after putting all these tools together I will have a more clear vision of the physical processes taking place in this event.









When one soul is set ablaze by truth, the whole universe ignites, and for an instant light reaches every corner cave and crevasse. When the heart

remembers what it is, joined in vastness by joy and suffering, both the future and the past dissolve like snowflakes on the tongue.

There is nowhere to run, no reason to do anything but rest in the cradle of the cosmos, rocked in the arms of empitness

and held in the near embrace of love.

-Danna Fauld