The deadline for applications for PhD prize scholarships sponsored by SUPA has been extended to Friday 10th February and for references to Monday 20th February. As a part of Scotish University Physics Alliance (SUPA) Astronomy and Astrophysics Group,  University of Glasgow, encourages applications for SUPA prize scholarships.
Please see details application details: http://apply.supa.ac.uk/

The SUPA Prize Studentships are prestigious and competitive awards intended to attract outstanding physics students from around the world, irrespective of nationality, to study for a PhD in Scotland.

Evolution of the 2010-06-13 prominence eruption. The circle marks the part of the prominence which was tracked. The field of view in the images is 300 × 300 arcsec.

Theoretical calculations have shown that when solar prominences move away from the surface of the Sun, their radiative output is affected via the Doppler dimming or brightening effects. In this paper co-authored between Dr Nicolas Labrosse and undergraduate student Kris McGlinchey we ask whether observational signatures of the changes in the radiative output of eruptive prominences can be found in EUV (extreme ultraviolet) observations of the first resonance line of ionised helium at 304 Å. We also investigate whether these observations can be used to perform a diagnostic of the plasma of the eruptive prominence. We find that observations of intensities in various parts of the four eruptive prominences studied here are sometimes consistent with the Doppler dimming effect on the He II 304 Å line. However, in some cases, one observes an increase in intensity in the 304 channel with velocity, in contradiction to what is expected from the Doppler dimming effect alone. The use of the non-LTE models allows us to explain the different behaviour of the intensity by changes in the plasma parameters inside the prominence, in particular the column mass of the plasma and its temperature.

This work is also described in this UKSP nugget.

Congratulations to Professor John Brown who has been awarded the 2012 Royal Astronomy Society Gold Medal for Geophysics.

Professor John Brown, 10th Astronomer Royal for Scotland and former Regius Chair of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow is awarded the 2012 RAS Gold Medal for Geophysics.

Early in his career Professor Brown’s ‘collisional thick-target model’ led to a new paradigm for the production of X-rays by electrons in solar flares. Identifying the mechanism of electron acceleration remains a central and unsolved problem in solar activity and his seminal work on deriving the accelerated electron distributions from their observable X-ray emission is still the landmark paper in the field, cited over 600 times.

His leading role in NASA’s award-winning Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) mission is testament to his impact in high-energy solar physics, where his work encompasses the interpretation of the properties of X-ray signatures, the modelling of particle acceleration and transport in the solar atmosphere and the analysis of the response of the flaring solar atmosphere.

Throughout his distinguished and productive research career John has collaborated widely, and – especially in his role as Astronomer Royal for Scotland – has inspired the astronomical passions of thousands of people across the UK and overseas through presentations, in person and on television and radio.

For his outstanding work in research, leadership and outreach Professor Brown is awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Full RAS press release.

Solar flare X-ray polarization may provide us with a method of determining photon anisotropy – an essential tool for constraining models of electron transport and acceleration.

Spatially resolved polarization across the extent of a single X-ray source has been simulated. A RHESSI nugget (Nugget 165) outlining the main ideas of the paper can be found here.