Search for Signatures of Solar Mass Ejections

During large explosions which occur on the Sun, large amounts of solar material are ejected into interplanetary space.  These solar mass ejections can seriously affect satellites in orbit around Earth.  However, it is extremely difficult to understand the physical nature of the explosions causing the ejections.  It is even more difficult to predict these events accurately.  In this study, novel composition data is being used to search for compositional variations associated with these solar mass ejections.  This data will be then used for a comprehensive analysis of periods of solar mass ejections during the last two years, and also for new data measured by our active space instruments.

 

Student Tasks and Responsibilities: Work with a Ph.D. student and myself to learn about the instrument used to access the data, Learn how to use Mathlab or IDL to access and plot the data, Establish data base. Perform statistical study of this data in collaboration with a Ph.D. student and myself.