Research Highlights

Research Highlights

A selection of highlights culled from publications by HAO staff.
Snapshots of the magnetic field lines & the synthetic SDO/AIA 304 Å images

MHD simulations of CME with associated prominence eruption

Yuhong Fan uses magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to find the formation of a prominence-cavity system that qualitatively reproduces several observed features including the cavity, the prominence “horns”, and the central “cavity” enclosed in the “horns” above the prominence.

Electromagnetic Energy Transfer

Efficiency of Electromagnetic Energy Transfer from Solar Wind to Ionosphere through Magnetospheric Ultra-Low Frequency Waves

Dong Lin, Michael Hartinger, William Lotko, Wenbin Wang, Xueling Shi, Bharat Kunduri, Viacheslav Merkin, Kareem Sorathia, Kevin Pham, and Michael Wiltberger use a first-principles computational model that can resolve the fundamental physics related to the low frequency plasma waves, to carry out idealized numerical experiments to investigate the electromagnetic energy flow in response to undulating solar wind. The theoretical study provides new understanding of the significance of the electromagnetic energy flow and its dependence on different parameters.

 TIMED/SABER observations

Local Time Variability of Gravity Wave Activity Revealed by SABER Temperature Observations

D. Koshin, N. M. Pedatella, A. K. Smith, and H.-L. Liu investigate diurnal variability in gravity wave activity, which is an indication of the interaction between gravity waves and tides using satellite observations

Two spacecraft of the Proba-3 mission

The ASPIICS solar coronagraph aboard the Proba-3 formation flying mission. Scientific objectives and instrument design

Sarah Gibson, et. al. describe the scientific objectives and instrument design of the ASPIICS coronagraph launched aboard the Proba-3 mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) on 5 December 2024. 

Zoomed-in burst-envelope forecasts from January 2024 to April 2026

Analysis Of Short-term Solar Activity Variability and Estimating Timings of Next Enhanced Bursts

Juie Shetye and Mausumi Dikpati present a novel machine-learning-based hybrid forecasting strategy for predicting next enhanced burst of solar activity. This hybrid forecast-system combines numerical, statistical, and machine-learning techniques to detect the occurrence of the next bursts of solar activity.

O/N2 measured by TIMED/GUVI and simulated by WACCM-X Case4 and their linear trends

The Long-term Trend of Thermospheric Compositions from Whole Atmospheric Simulation and Satellite Observation

Chih-Ting Hsu, Wenbin Wang, Liying Qian, Ercha Aa, Joe Mclnerney, Shun-Rong Zhang, Yongliang Zhang, Anastasia Newheart, Dong Lin examine the long-term trend of column-integrated atomic oxygen to molecular nitrogen ratio, O/N2, in the upper atmosphere and investigates the cause of this long-term trend in O/N2. 

quasi-steady state solution from a global MHD simulation of the solar wind

The Yin-Yang Magnetic Flux Eruption (Yin-Yang-MFE) Code: A Global Corona Magnetohydrodynamic Code with the Yin-Yang grid

Hongyang Luo and Yuhong Fan describe the numerical algorithms of a global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code utilizing the Yin-Yang grid, called the Yin-Yang Magnetic Flux Eruption (Yin-Yang-MFE) code, suitable for modeling the large-scale dynamical processes of the solar corona and the solar wind. It is a single-fluid MHD code taking into account the non-adiabatic effects of the solar corona, including the electron heat conduction, optically thin radiative cooling, and empirical coronal heating. 

Inversion of an average synthetic Mg II k spectrum

Using the Hanle Effect in Mg II k to Quantify the Open Flux above the Solar Poles

Ryan A. Hofmann, David Afonso Delgado, Rebecca Centeno, Roberto Casini, Matthias Rempel, Tanausu del Pino Aleman test the use of the Mg II resonant lines for measurement of the magnetic field at the top of the chromosphere of polar coronal holes (CHs).

Scatter plot image

The role of the Lorentz force in sunspot equilibrium

J. M. Borrero; A. Pastor Yabar; M. Schmassmann; M. Rempel; M. van Noort; M. Collados apply the FIRTEZ Stokes inversion code to spectropolarimetric observations to infer the magnetic and thermodynamic parameters in two sunspots located at the disk center. Their research helps to explain why sunspots are such long-lived structures capable of surviving on the solar surface for days or even full solar rotations.