Southwestern students present NASA-funded research at symposium, May 23

SWOCC release – Coos Bay, OR – Two Southwestern students, Bailee McMahon and Isabella Trifilo-Miley completed their term-long journey in the world of solar physics research last Friday with presentations at the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium (OSGC) SCORE Symposium hosted by Oregon State University. Both students presented research summary talks and posters at the event, completing their projects. Upon completion, they along with other participating students for OSGC member institutions statewide received their $800 stipend checks in an awards ceremony. Isabella Trifilo-Miley presented work on the effects of solar magnetic field structure on solar X-ray emission. Her analysis included modeling the solar magnetic field before and after large flare events to locate observational signatures of magnetic field changes and flare energy release. Isabella used a combination of X-ray data from the RHESSI spacecraft, magnetic field data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory HMI instrument, and magnetic field modeling. Bailee McMahon presented her work on the analysis of spatial and temporal relationships between hard X-ray and ultraviolet emission in solar flares observed by RHESSI and SDO/AIA. Her analysis included comparative time history for X-ray and UV emission for the duration of individual flare events alongside spatial comparisons of flare images in each wavelength. To accomplish her work, Bailee analysis X-ray data from the RHESSI spacecraft in tandem with high resolution UV images taken from Solar Dynamics Observatory’s AIA instrument. The research opportunities were funded by the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium. The consortium consists of 21 affiliate members from 18 colleges and universities in Oregon along with three informal education affiliates. The consortium is headquartered at Oregon State University, but the affiliates cover much of the state. For more information, contact Dr. Aaron Coyner at (541) 888-7244 or via email at aaron.coyner@socc.edu.