SHINE: Solar Energetic Particles Mediating Interplanetary Shocks Close to the Sun

闪耀：太阳高能粒子介导靠近太阳的行星际激波

• 批准号: 2401162
• 负责人: Parisa Mostafavi
• 金额: $ 57.97万
• 依托单位: Johns Hopkins University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-01 至 2027-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2401162&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SHINE; Solar; Energetic; Particles; Mediating

Solar energetic particles (SEPs) are high-energy particles that can propagate from the Sun all the way to the surface of the Earth, which can cause significant disruptions to communication systems. Their generation mechanisms remain a subject of much debate, with strong coronal and interplanetary discontinuities or shocks driven by coronal mass ejections (CME) being likely responsible. Previous observations studied these shocks at different solar distances from the Earth’s orbit to the outer heliosphere, but were limited to distances mostly outside the Earth’s orbit (1 au). Currently, however, observations with Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and Solar Orbiter (SolO) allow us to build a more complete picture by probing extensively distances below 1 au. A key consequence of studying this region, which is the goal of this project, is that these in-situ observations will provide SEP and shock measurements that are dramatically less affected by transport effects as the spacecraft progressively get closer to the Sun.The data from PSP and SolO will be analyzed for periods when these spacecraft observe shock events with exceptionally high SEP intensities. The results will address the significant issue of energetic particle acceleration by shocks near the Sun and how the particles affect the structure of these young shocks. Additionally, as energetic-particle-mediated shocks are predicted to occur in various astrophysical settings across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, our comprehensive search for such structures very close to our Sun may fundamentally contribute to our understanding of well-known ‘cosmic ray’-mediated collisionless shocks. The science goals of this project are to (1) quantify SEP-mediated shocks, (2) assess SEP impact on shock mediation, and (3) explore shock-SEP relationships. This project will support an early-career female scientist and an undergraduate student from the APL CIRCUIT Program to work on this project which will be promoting research and education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

太阳高能粒子（SEP）是一种高能粒子，可以从太阳一直传播到地球表面，这可能会对通信系统造成严重干扰。它们的产生机制仍然是一个备受争议的主题，强烈的日冕和行星际不连续性或日冕物质抛射（CME）驱动的冲击可能是原因。以前的观测研究了这些冲击在不同的太阳距离从地球的轨道外日光层，但仅限于距离大多数以外的地球的轨道（1 Au）。然而，目前，帕克太阳探测器（PSP）和太阳轨道器（SolO）的观测使我们能够通过探测1 Au以下的广泛距离来构建更完整的图像。研究这一区域的一个关键结果，这是该项目的目标，是这些原位观测将提供SEP和冲击测量，显着减少运输效应的影响，因为航天器逐渐接近太阳，PSP和SolO的数据将进行分析，这些航天器观察到的冲击事件异常高SEP强度的时期。这些结果将解决太阳附近激波对高能粒子加速的重要问题，以及这些粒子如何影响这些年轻激波的结构。此外，由于能量粒子介导的冲击预计会发生在各种天体物理环境中，跨越广泛的空间和时间尺度，我们对非常接近太阳的这种结构的全面搜索可能会从根本上有助于我们对众所周知的“宇宙射线”介导的无碰撞冲击的理解。该项目的科学目标是（1）量化SEP介导的休克，（2）评估SEP对休克介导的影响，（3）探索休克-SEP关系。该项目将支持一名职业生涯初期的女科学家和一名APL研究生项目的本科生从事该项目，该项目将促进研究和教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。