Investigating the Rotation of Sunspots with the Solar Dynamics Observatory

该项目的目的是研究太阳黑子在太阳表面的自转。这些自转可以持续10天，是磁信息从太阳内部转移到大气中的一个明显后果。储存在太阳大气中的过剩能量可以通过太阳耀斑和日冕物质抛射等爆发释放出来，这可能会影响我们的地球。这个项目特别将自动定位和跟踪太阳黑子，这样就可以很容易地计算太阳黑子的自转。此外，这将提供活动区内太阳黑子相对运动的信息，以确定额外的能量输入来源(如太阳黑子和其他磁脚点运动之间的剪切)，并确定主要的输入机制。一旦成功，将产生更大的统计样本以供科学利用(SDO拥有可供利用的11年连续数据档案，尽管分析整个目录将是数据管理中的一项主要工作，因此将以精心选择的时期为目标)。这个样本将被用来测试太阳黑子自转是否是为(大规模)太阳喷发注入过剩能量的关键机制，以及哪些其他机制可能对这一过程做出重大贡献。该项目将主要使用美国国家航空航天局太阳动力学天文台(SDO)的数据来确定太阳黑子及其自转。SDO在与太阳表面和大气的不同层相对应的一系列光谱通带中提供对太阳圆盘的连续、高分辨率(在时间和空间上)的观测。然而，新的仪器将在博士期间上线，例如欧空局的太阳轨道器任务，这将被适当地利用。

The aim of this project is to investigate the rotation of sunspots in the solar surface. These rotations, which can last for 10s of days, are an observable consequence of the transfer of magnetic information from the solar interior to the atmosphere. Excess energy stored in the solar atmosphere can be released through eruptions such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which can impact us on the Earth.In particular, this project will automate the locating and tracking of sunspots so that sunspot rotations can easily be calculated. Additionally, this will provide information about the relative motions of sunspots within an active region to determine additional sources of energy input (such as shear between sunspots and other magnetic foot point motions) and identify the dominant input mechanisms.The automated approach will be tested against a four-month sample that has already been manually generated. Once this is successful, a larger statistical sample will be generated for scientific exploitation (SDO has an archive of 11 years of continuous data that can be exploited, though analysing the entire catalogue would be a major undertaking in data management, so carefully selected periods will be targeted). This sample will be used to test whether sunspot rotation is a key mechanism for injecting excess energy for (large) solar eruptions, and which other mechanisms may significantly contribute to this process.The project will primarily use data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to identify sunspots and their rotation. SDO provides continuous, high-resolution (in time and space) observations of the solar disk in a range of spectral pass bands that correspond to different layers of the Sun's surface and atmosphere. However, new instrumentation will come online during the PhD period, such as ESA's Solar Orbiter mission, and this will be exploited as appropriate.