The evolution of solar active regions towards flares and coronal mass ejections and the role of electric currents

• Applicant: Dr. Ioannis Kontogiannis, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 466524561

The project will study the evolution of active regions and the development of the complicated magnetic configurations that produce flares and coronal mass ejections, utilizing high-quality observations along with techniques and tools developed for data analysis and space weather prediction. During the past decade, these phenomena were under intense scrutiny, mainly for three reasons: (1) As the main drivers of space weather, they can have, potentially, severe consequences on space-borne and ground-based infrastructure, even affecting daily space-technology-based activities. (2) Comprising the most energetic and dramatic effects of our solar system, their study can help understand fundamental processes in the solar atmosphere and, by extension, in other stars as well. (3) Recent advances in instrumentation and techniques enabled constant monitoring of the Sun, with space-borne instruments and state-of-the-art, ground-based, telescopes. However, there are still open questions regarding the origin and development of the electric currents, which are involved in energy storage in active regions, and those characteristics that will allow us to differentiate between quiet, flaring, and eruptive active regions. Motivated by these questions, this project aims to contribute not only to a deeper understanding of fundamental processes but also to practical aspects of solar eruption prediction.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants