GGrantIndex
← Search

ACCELERATION OF CHARGED PARTICLES FAR BEYOND TYPICAL THERMAL ENERGIES IS AN INTRIGUING FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTY OF ASTROPHYSICAL MAGNETIZED PLASMAS. SOLAR FLARES OFFER AN EXCELLENT ENVIRONMENT TO STUDY PARTICLE ACCELERATION AND TRANSPORT WITH DETAILED OBSERVATIONS OF FLARE SITES ENERGETIC ELECTRONS AND ASSOCIATED MULTI-WAVELENGTH EMISSIONS. SOLAR FLARES ARE ALSO OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH SOLAR PARTICLE EVENTS (SEPS) DETECTED IN THE INTERPLANETARY SPACE. A MAJOR UNANSWERED QUESTION ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FLARES AND SEPS IS HOW THE FLARE ACCELERATED PARTICLES GAIN ACCESS TO MAGNETIC FIELDS OPEN TO THE INTERPLANETARY SPACE. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THIS QUESTION BY STUDYING THE LINK BETWEEN ONE OF THE KNOWN SOURCES OF SEPS SOLAR JETS AND FLARE ACCELERATED ENERGETIC ELECTRONS. SOLAR CORONAL JETS ARE COLLIMATED SUDDEN EJECTIONS OF PLASMA ALONG MAGNETIC FIELD LINES OFTEN OPEN TO THE INTERPLANETARY SPACE: THEY OFFER A POSSIBILITY FOR PARTICLES TO ESCAPE THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE. FLARE-ASSOCIATED JETS HAVE BEEN CONNECTED TO IMPULSIVE ENERGETIC ELECTRON EVENTS DETECTED IN-SITU AND ARE OFTEN RELATED TO ENERGETIC ELECTRON BEAMS PROPAGATING IN THE SOLAR CORONA AND INTERPLANETARY SPACE PRODUCING TYPE III RADIO BURSTS. WE WILL ANALYZE THE OCCURRENCE OF JETS WITH SIGNATURES OF ESCAPING ENERGETIC ELECTRONS (RADIO TYPE III BURSTS) ASSOCIATED WITH FLARES. THE PROJECT WILL SUBSTANTIALLY ENHANCE THE LIST OF IDENTIFIED JET EVENTS USING A NOVEL CITIZEN-SCIENCE-BASED APPROACH. HUMAN VOLUNTEERS WILL IDENTIFY JETS IN EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET (EUV) IMAGES FROM THE ATMOSPHERIC IMAGER ASSEMBLY (AIA) ON THE SOLAR DYNAMIC OBSERVATORY (SDO) AND REPORT THEIR TIMING AND LOCATION. THE EXTENSIVE CATALOG OF JET EVENTS RESULTING FROM THIS CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT WILL ALLOW US TO STATISTICALLY ASSESS LINKS BETWEEN CORONAL JETS AND THE RADIO SIGNATURES OF ELECTRON BEAMS. WE WILL STUDY ENERGETIC ELECTRON DISTRIBUTION IN SPACE TIME AND ENERGY USING A COMBINATION OF X-RAY AND RADIO OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING. WE WILL ANALYZE DATA FROM SPACE SPECTROMETERS AND IMAGERS (RHESSI KONUS-WIND FERMI) AND RADIO DATA FROM GROUND BASED INSTRUMENTS (E.G. NRH NORH EOVSA LOFAR) AND SPACE INSTRUMENTS (STEREO AND WIND-WAVES). CONTEXT PHOTOSPHERIC MAGNETIC MEASUREMENTS ARE PROVIDED BY THE SDO/HMI. THE MAGNETIC CONFIGURATION AND ELECTRON DISTRIBUTIONS WILL BE SIMULATED WITHIN THE GX SIMULATOR. TOGETHER THESE OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING PROMISE THE MOST COMPLETE PICTURE OF ACCELERATED ELECTRONS AS THEY ESCAPE THE SUN. THE PROPOSAL IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT SDO SCIENCE OBJECTIVES #5 WHAT MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS LEAD TO THE CMES FILAMENT ERUPTIONS AND FLARES THAT PRODUCE ENERGETIC PARTICLES AND RADIATION? SINCE JETS REPRESENT A SPECIFIC CONFIGURATION THAT OFTEN PRODUCES HIGH-ENERGY PARTICLE.

$570,350FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Regents Of The University Of Minnesota

Investigators

View source on USAspending →