Toward a Self-Consistent Model of the Solar Dynamo

AST-0602023罗杰斯，塔玛拉博士。罗杰斯被授予NSF天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在国家大气研究中心(NCAR)开展一项研究和教育计划。尽管进行了详细的观测和数十年的调查，但人们对太阳磁周期仍然知之甚少。虽然平均场磁流体力学模型的使用是研究发电机过程的有用工具，但这些模型经常被批评为对复杂的基本物理过于简化的近似。作为美国国家科学基金会的一名研究员，罗杰斯博士将在一个真实的太阳模型中对对流和发电机行为进行三维、自洽的数值模拟。这是一项艰巨的任务，但鉴于计算资源和复杂的数值工具方面的新进展，这项任务已成为可能。对太阳发电机的基本了解将对太阳与地球的联系和其他恒星上的磁场活动产生深远的影响。罗杰斯还将利用NCAR现有的广泛的教育和推广工具。NCAR的“宇宙之窗”网站(www.windows.ucar.edu)是一个基于网络的学习工具，为教育工作者提供了许多工具，包括课堂活动。罗杰斯博士将(1)扩展现有网站，包括更多与太阳有关的课堂活动，以及(2)通过校内和课后计划，将这些活动引入服务不足社区的教室。

AST-0602023Rogers, TamaraDr. Rogers is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Despite detailed observations and decades of inquiry, the solar magnetic cycle is still poorly understood. While the usage of mean-field magnetohydrodynamic models is a useful tool to study the dynamo process, these models are often criticized as over-simplified approximations to the complex underlying physics. As an NSF Fellow, Dr. Rogers will conduct three-dimensional, self-consistent numerical simulations of convection and dynamo action in a realistic solar model. This is a formidable undertaking but one that has become possible in light of new advances in computational resources and sophisticated numerical tools. A fundamental understanding of the solar dynamo will have far-reaching consequences for the Sun-Earth connection and magnetic activity on other stars.Dr. Rogers will also utilize NCAR's extensive existing education and outreach arm.The NCAR "Windows to the Universe" website (www.windows.ucar.edu) is a web-based learning tool which offers numerous tools for educators, including classroom activities. Dr. Rogers will (1) extend the existing website to include more classroom activities related to the Sun and (2) bring these activities into classrooms in underserved communities through both in-school and after-school programs.