Coronal Field Evolution Driven by Field Emergence

Advisors: Lucas Tarr and Dana Longcope

The Sun's magnetic field is created by the emergence of concentrated tubes forming sunspots. The atmosphere above these regions is structured and energized by the emerging field. We believe we have a model predicting the amount of magnetic energy built up during the emergence. In this project the student will use existing software to analyze 3-4 days data sequences of active region emergence. The magnetic maps are broken into sectors which are to be connected by the coronal magnetic field. The sequence can be used in a model of the energy build up and compared to the observed X-ray emission.

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.