Polar Coronal Hole Size Variations Across Multiple Solar Cycles

Project Description:

Coronal holes appear as dark areas in the solar corona in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray solar images. They appear dark because they are cooler, less dense regions than the surrounding plasma and are regions of open, unipolar magnetic fields. This open, magnetic field line structure allows the solar wind to escape more readily into space, resulting in streams of relatively fast solar wind and is often referred to as a high speed stream in the context of analysis of structures in interplanetary space. Coronal holes can develop at any time and location on the Sun, but are more common and persistent during the years around solar minimum. This project will utilize synoptic maps from the Solar Dynamics Observatory to characterize the size variations of polar coronal holes across multiple solar activity cycles. The student should have strong proficiency in Python and be open to training in SunPy.

Research Area:

Solar Physics

Project Level:

Honours

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(NWU)

Special Requirements:

Python SunPy