Solar System Physics at Aberystwyth University

阿伯里斯特威斯大学的太阳系物理学（SSP）小组的研究兴趣从太阳内部延伸到太阳大气和行星际空间，再到地球和行星电离层。这些都是我们太阳系的重要方面，我们对这些环境的研究导致了物理学和天文学的进步，在理解空间天气和小行星撞击的危害方面对社会的直接好处，以及通过跨学科研究带来的其他间接好处。强大的磁场渗透到太阳的可见表面（光球），并决定了大气的结构。这是日冕——一个热的、磁化的等离子体，对物理学来说是一个有趣的环境。通过观察和建立模型来了解这种环境，推动了等离子体基础物理学的进步，并导致了预测太阳风暴的能力。这个复杂系统的模型仍然不完整或未经测试，因此许多方面仍然无法解释。随着观测的进步，太阳物理学即将回答其中的一些问题。我们的研究在这方面起着重要作用。我们知道，太阳磁场从内部以紧密排列的磁场线组成的坚固管道出现，类似于绳索。它们以太阳黑子的形式出现在光球层上。我们研究太阳黑子的行为，当它们随着太阳在可见的圆盘上旋转时，为了了解磁场和能量从内部到太空的传输。随着大型太阳望远镜的计划和建造，我们必须有必要的软件工具来解释和分析新的数据。在准备工作中，我们正在创建存在于相对凉爽的太阳黑子环境中的分子的模型光谱。对这些分子光谱线的太阳观测有助于探测太阳黑子的环境，给出诸如温度或磁场等物理性质的限制。这项工作的一部分涉及到a -level学校学生的研究投入——这是一个难得的机会，可以将前沿研究与下一代科学家的参与和教育结合起来。我们致力于开发新的数据分析工具，揭示和表征太阳大气事件和现象。我们的方法第一次揭示了一股微弱的扰动流，在日冕中不断移动。这提供了一个强大的新诊断，将约束模型和使映射复杂的日冕磁场。我们先进的数值模型揭示了磁场扭曲和等离子体沿磁场流动之间复杂的相互作用，最终帮助我们理解诸如大型火山爆发之类的事件，这些事件可能会撞击并影响地球。我们的方法具有跨学科的应用。例如，该小组开发的用于探测和跟踪太阳风暴的软件最近被用于提高对癌细胞生长的显微镜时间序列图像的诊断。日冕内外复杂等离子体过程的线索在于多个航天器对太阳风等离子体的直接测量。我们正在开发新的分析工具来解释这些测量结果，以便更全面地了解太阳风从太阳到地球的演变历史。这导致了对太阳附近等离子体加热和加速的过程的理解，以及对脆弱的磁性等离子体中发生的重要过程的理解，这对物理学和天文学具有广泛的普遍重要性。观测到的月球表面变化可能是由于撞击或月球内部活动造成的。我们有领先的处理方法来识别和分析事件。将大量事件分类将在公民科学家的帮助下实现。这项工作对于了解月球上的地质过程非常重要，从更实际的角度来看，它可以为未来的探索确定最安全的地点。我们的方法也可以用于其他无空气的行星。

The Solar System Physics (SSP) group at Aberystwyth University has research interests extending from the solar interior, through the solar atmosphere and interplanetary space, to Earth and planetary ionospheres. These are important aspects of our solar system, and our study of these environments leads to progress in physics and astronomy, direct benefits to society in understanding the hazards of space weather and asteroid impacts, and other indirect benefits through cross-disciplinary research.A strong magnetic field permeates the Sun's visible surface (photosphere), and dictates the structure of the atmosphere. This is the corona - a hot, magnetised plasma, an interesting environment for physics. Understanding this environment, through observation and models, drives progress on fundamental plasma physics, and leads to the ability to predict solar storms. Models of this complex system remain incomplete or untested, thus many aspects remain unexplained. With advancements in observation, solar physics is on the verge of answering some of these questions. Our research plays an important part in this effort.We know that the solar magnetic field emerges from the interior in strong tubes of closely-packed fieldlines, akin to ropes. These appear as sunspots on the photosphere. We study the behaviour of sunspots as they rotate with the Sun across the visible disk, in order to understand the transport of the magnetic field and energy from the interior into space. As huge solar telescopes are planned and built we must have the necessary software tools to interpret and analyse new data. In preparation, we are creating model spectra of molecules which exist in the relatively cool environment of sunspots. Solar observations of spectral lines from these molecules help probe the sunspot environment, giving constraints on physical properties such as temperature or magnetic field. Part of this effort involves the research input of A-level school students - a rare chance to combine cutting-edge research with the engagement and education of the next generation of scientists.We are dedicated to the development of new data analysis tools that reveal and characterise solar atmospheric events and phenomena. For the first time, our methods have revealed a stream of faint disturbances moving everywhere, continuously through the corona. This provides a powerful new diagnostic that will constrain models and enable the mapping of the intricate coronal magnetic field. Our advanced numerical models are revealing the complex interplay between twists in the magnetic field and plasma flows along the field - ultimately helping us to understand events such as large eruptions that can hit and effect Earth. Our methods have cross-disciplinary applications. For example, software developed by the group to detect and track solar storms has recently been used to improve the diagnostics of microscope time-series imagery of cancer cell growths.Clues to the complex plasma processes in the corona and beyond lie in direct measurements of the solar wind plasma by multiple spacecraft. We are developing new analysis tools to interpret these measurements, allowing a more complete picture of the history of the solar wind as it evolves from the Sun to Earth. This leads to an understanding of the processes that heat and accelerate the plasma near the Sun and to an understanding of what important processes occur in tenuous magnetic plasmas, of broad general importance to physics and astronomy. Observed changes in the lunar surface may be due to impacts, or to lunar internal activity. We have leading processing methods to identify and analyse events. Categorizing large number of events will be achieved with the help of citizen scientists. This effort is important to understand geological processes on the Moon, and from a more practical standpoint, to identify the safest sites for future exploration. Our methods can also be used for other airless planets.