Radioastronomical Studies of the Solar Corona and Solar Wind

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This project researches radio remote sensing of the solar corona and inner parts of the solar wind. This portion of space is extremely important since the solar wind originates here, and conditions determine its characteristics. Radio remote sensing consists of "distortions" of radio waves propagating through this part of space; in this study, radio waves will be generated by natural sources such as radio galaxies and quasars. The PI can determine the amplitude of turbulence in the solar wind and corona from measurements of scintillations of amplitude and phase of the received radio waves. This will help determine the importance of turbulence in the structure and dynamics of the solar wind. Specifically, the PI will measure coronal Faraday rotation with the VLA radiotelescope and scintillations of interferometer phase with the VLBA. The Faraday rotation observations measure an integral of gas density and parallel component of the magnetic field through the corona. Therefore, these measurements establish the magnetohydrodynamic state of the solar corona. In addition, the PI will closely examine data for time variation of the Faraday rotation due to turbulence in the corona. These measurements will: develop a new means of remotely measuring the speed of solar wind, determine if the turbulence is elongated by the interplanetary magnetic field, and determine the potential of such measurements for remote and early detection of interplanetary disturbances of their way to Earth.