Second Century Initiative Fellow Collaborates With Computer Science Department to Predict Solar Flares
Second Century Initiative Fellow Collaborates With Computer Science Department to Predict Solar Flares
Second Century Initiative (2CI) and Ph.D. candidate Sushant Mahajan is studying the activity of the sun to predict dangerous space weather.
The overarching goal of his research is to understand and predict the sun’s magnetic activity. He is currently attempting to discover where sunspots, regions of reduced surface temperature that appear as dark spots on the Sun’s photosphere, are originated inside the sun. Once he has done this, he will be able to use his research to assist in the prediction of space weather, specifically solar flares.
“A solar flare is a sudden increase in brightness on the sun. During a solar flare, a particular location in the sun suddenly brightens up and emits a lot of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation,” Mahajan said. “The amplification of the magnetic field is what creates sunspots on the sun and since solar flares originate in magnetically active regions, they usually originate around groups of sunspots.”