Analysis of ultraviolet radiation from solar flares

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Solar flares are dramatic outbursts of radiation originating in the solar atmosphere. Flares, and the often-associated coronal mass ejections, can have an impact on the Earth's environment, so understanding the flare process - and perhaps at some point predicting when a flare will start - is of great interest. A flare radiates across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to gamma-rays, but most of the radiated energy emerges in the optical and ultraviolet part of the spectrum. It is by analysing the radiation from solar flares that we learn about their properties; how the flare energy is released and travels through the solar atmosphere, and how it is linked to the evolving solar magnetic field. In this project we will use data from NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) satellite to study solar flares, and characterise the physical properties of the solar atmosphere. For the first time we will systematically apply a technique to derive the density and speed of the radiating material to a large dataset, employing machine learning methods to improve the efficiency of the analysis. We will track the development of the flare, starting from before its onset, to look for clues about how a flare begins, which could potentially help in prediction. This research falls under the STFC's Astronomy Programme, addressing questions about how the Sun works and what drives its variability.