SHINE: Determining the Role of Ideal Instabilities in the Initiation of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) Through Multiwavelength Observations

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

The proposing team will quantify the role of writhing motions in coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar filament eruptions and examine the role such motions might play in either initiating the eruption or modifying its subsequent evolution. This is motivated by recent work by the principal investigator (PI) and his collaborators that supports the idea that writhe of the filament axis is a possible driver of filament eruptions and could define the nature of the eruption. In their analysis, the proposing team will use high cadence, ground-based observations from the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) in Hawaii and Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in California, along with data from several spacecraft. MLSO instrumentation, in particular, will allow for Doppler velocity discrimination and provide a unique diagnostic capability for determining writhing motions in conjunction with intensity data. The expected results should improve our understanding of the initiation of CME eruptions and provide the necessary input for accurate modeling of the initiation and evolution of CMEs. This research will directly support the development and mentoring of young scientists and graduate students, and will contribute to at least one PhD thesis. The results of this research will also be incorporated into the PI's undergraduate lecture courses at Rice University, and will provide a basis for student research opportunities through Rice's undergraduate research program. The PI will also make use of Rice's "Century Scholars" program (which partners faculty as mentors for top-tier freshmen) to recruit two new Scholars (with his recruiting focus on under-represented student populations). The proposers will provide public outreach opportunities by inclusion of their science results into the "Solar Week" educational web site at http://www.solarweek.org, which was created by the PI to encourage middle school girls to pursue careers in science.