Completed Physics & Astronomy Chemistry

Queen's University Belfast Consolidated Grant in Solar Physics and Solar System Studies 2017 - 2020

Funder STFC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Queen's University Belfast
Funding £1.3M
Period Mar 2017 — Sept 2021

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

The Sun’s outer atmosphere erupts in waves and magnetic explosions that can knock out power grids and scramble satellite signals, and this team is watching those events unfold at the fastest frame rates ever captured. These researchers at Queen’s University Belfast are combining high-speed solar imaging with supercomputer simulations to understand how energy moves from the Sun’s surface into its corona and beyond. They are also studying asteroids and comets—the Solar System’s oldest debris—to learn how planets formed. The gap they fill is a basic one: we do not yet know exactly how solar flares and coronal waves are generated, nor how the primordial material that built Earth is distributed among distant icy bodies. This is fundamental science. There is no immediate practical application. But the solar physics part directly underpins space weather forecasting, which protects satellites, aviation, and the UK’s National Grid from geomagnetic storms. The asteroid and comet work feeds into planetary defence and future mining missions. Past fundamental studies of solar magnetism, for example, led directly to the models that now give power companies a few hours’ warning before a storm hits. This project extends that knowledge base.

View original technical description
Our Consolidated Grant brings together research projects in solar physics, and the study of solar system bodies, undertaken by staff within the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen's University Belfast. All of these projects fall within the remit of the Solar Studies (SS) and Planetary Studies (PL) sub-panels of the STFC Astronomy Grants Panel. The programme is diverse, with the solar physics projects involving observational and computational studies of the solar atmosphere from the chromosphere to the corona, with a particular emphasis on high-frequency imaging and spectroscopy of dynamic events, including wave generation, propagation and dissipation, the cancellation of magnetic elements and total solar eclipses. Projects on solar system bodies include observational studies of asteroids and the most primitive populations such as comets/trans-Neptunian objects - populations that retain key information on the origin and evolution of our planetary system. Our observational research employs an extensive set of both ground- and satellite-based solar and astronomical facilities, including the ROSA/HARDcam high-cadence solar imager, the Pan-STARRS Survey, ESO, ING and Gemini telescopes, and the SDO and Hinode satellites. In addition, we use the DiRAC supercomputing facility to support the computational aspects of our research programmes.

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Researchers

Alan Fitzsimmons (Co-Investigator)David Jess (Co-Investigator)Francis Keenan (Principal Investigator)Mihalis Mathioudakis (Co-Investigator)Pedro Lacerda (Co-Investigator)Wesley Fraser (Co-Investigator)

Related Research

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Queen's University Belfast Consolidated Grant in Solar Physics and Solar System Studies 2020 - 2023
Queen's University Belfast Consolidated Grant in Solar Physics and Solar System Studies 2023 - 2026
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Astrophysics at Queen's University Belfast: 2008 - 2013
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Original classification

Research Grant

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.