Magnetic connections to space

Advisors: Dana Longcope and Jiong Qiu

The Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is structured by its magnetic field. Many of the coronal field lines connect between sunspots on the solar surface; there are called closed file lines. Regions of closed fields are separated by regions where magnetic field lines extend out to interplanetary space, called open field regions. Some solar storms, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are believed to open up previously closed field. In this project the student will use a model of the coronal magnetic field to predict where the open regions will be. These predictions are compared to X-ray images of the corona to ascertain how well the model works. Parameters of the model will be adjusted to obtain good agreement. The tuned model will then be used to understand how and where CMEs expand the open regions.

The student will use a computer program to compute magnetic field in the corona. The student will also analyze imaging observations of the corona to locate open-field regions from the reduced intensity in the images. The student will compare magnetic field maps with corona images to understand the relationship between the two. The student should have studied classical mechanics and electromagnetism, and have some experience working with computers. Previous knowledge of IDL is desirable, but not required.