Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of the Solar Corona

    White-light eclipse and coronagraph images of the Sun reveal the complex structure of the Sun's outer atmosphere, the solar corona. The structures observed are produced by the interaction of the solar wind with the coronal magnetic field. Advances in coronal modeling techniques now allow us to realistically simulate this interaction. Specific examples of our calculations and comparisons of our results with coronal data can be found on this page.

Introduction

Description of the Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Model

Eclipse Predictions and Comparisons:

The March 29, 2006 Solar Eclipse

The December 4, 2002 Solar Eclipse

The June 21, 2001 Solar Eclipse

The August 11, 1999 Solar Eclipse

The February 26, 1998 Solar Eclipse

The March 9, 1997 Solar Eclipse

The October 24, 1995 Solar Eclipse

The November 3, 1994 Solar Eclipse

Carrington Rotations 1918/1919 (Jan 5 - Feb 26, 1997)

Carrington Rotation 1888 (Oct 10 - Nov 6, 1994)

    The calculations described here were carried out by solar physicists Jon Linker, Zoran Mikic, Roberto Lionello, Pete Riley, and Viacheslav Titov. They are researchers in the Technology and Advanced Systems Business Unit of Science Applications International Corporation in San Diego. Their research was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation. The computations were performed on DataStar at NSF's San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), and on Columbia at NASA's Advanced Supercomputing Divison (NAS).