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| Solar Flare Observations Using the X-ray Telescope on Hinode |
| Dr. Katharine Reeves |
| Thursday, Apr 12, 2007 at 8:00 PM |
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This month we welcome Dr. Katharine Reeves, Astrophysicist in the Solar and Stellar X-ray Group at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Dr Reeves, whose research interests include modeling and observation of dynamic coronal phenomena, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections, has used a variety of instruments to inform her work, including imaging telescopes such as the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), the X-Ray Telescope on Hinode, the Soft X-Ray Telescope on Yohkoh, and spectroscopic instruments such as the Brag Crystal Spectrometer on Yohkoh and RHESSI. In her talk, “Solar Flare Observations Using the X-ray Telescope on Hinode,” we’ll hear about the X-ray Telescope, its unique features, and the data collected since first light in October 2006, and how XRT's many x-ray filters can be used to glean temperature information about flares and eruptive events.
The satellite Hinode (Solar-B), Japanese for sunrise, was launched in September 2006 on a mission to study the Sun, specifically, sunspots which give rise to powerful flares and solar storms. The origin of solar flares is a mystery scientists hope Hinode will help unravel. Hinode is in sun-synchronous orbit allowing it to observe the sun for uninterrupted periods lasting months at a time. Onboard are three advanced telescopes for observing different layers of the solar atmosphere: the Solar Observing Telescope (SOT), the X-ray Telescope (XRT) and EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). With this suite of telescopes scientists hope to answer key questions: Why is the Sun’s corona so much hotter than the Sun’s atmosphere? What drives solar flares and creates the Sun’s magnetic fields? The XRT, which was designed and developed by an international consortium including the Harvard SAO, is able to see the million degree gas caught in the magnetic grip of sunspots and in the corona which may help solve many solar mysteries.
Please join us for a pre-meeting dinner with Katharine Reeves at 5:45PM at Changsho Restaurant located at 1712 Massachusetts Ave. in our fair city, Cambridge, MA.
~Virginia Renehan
Please join us for a pre-meeting dinner discussion at Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA at 6:00pm before the meeting. |
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