2 research outputs found
The Software Architecture and development approach for the ASTRI Mini-Array gamma-ray air-Cherenkov experiment at the Observatorio del Teide
The ASTRI Mini-Array is an international collaboration led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and devoted to the imaging of atmospheric Cherenkov light for very-high gamma-ray astronomy. The project is deploying an array of 9 telescopes sensitive above 1 TeV. In this contribution, we present the architecture of the software that covers the entire life cycle of the observatory, from scheduling to remote operations and data dissemination. The high-speed networking connection available between the observatory site, at the Canary Islands, and the Data Center in Rome allows for ready data availability for stereo triggering and data processing
Properties and correlation of flares and coronal mass ejections and their possible relevance on the southern night sky background: a statistical study
This Thesis is devoted to a statistical study of solar phenomena (flares and coronal
mass ejections) and their possible effects on the Earth.
The Sun, our star, can be considered a huge laboratory where we can study the
interaction of a ionized gas with magnetic fields. In particular, the solar atmosphere
(the outer layers of the Sun, those which are accessible to observations) is characterized
by phenomena that due their existence to localized magnetic fields: sunspots,
faculae, filaments, active regions, bright points, coronal holes, etc. The occurrence
of these phenomena is variable, depending on the so-called activity cycle, characterized
by a period of 11 years.
Moreover, in some situations, the magnetic field that permeates the active regions,
from an initial potential field configuration (characterized by the minimum
energy content), can slowly store energy, changing its configuration to more complex
and more energetic ones. When the magnetic field configuration is not able
to maintain its equilibrium, the stored magnetic energy is abruptly released, giving
rise to phenomena that are generally termed as solar eruptions but that, depending
on their characteristics, are distinguished between flares, filament eruptions and
coronal mass ejections.
In the last decades, the possibilities offered by new computer capabilities, new
instruments and by satellite observations, have allowed us to understand many of
the characteristics of these eruptions, as well as their effects on the Earth magnetosphere
and ionosphere.
However, despite the progress in our comprehension of these phenomena, there
are still many aspects that need to be clarified: how and where is the energy stored,
what causes the trigger of the eruption, how the different phenomena are related to
each other and how they can affect our environment, to cite only a few.
In this scenario, the work carried out in this Thesis has been motivated by three
main questions:
-- Are there preferential locations on the Sun where the magnetic field is prone
to produce eruptive events ?
-- What kind of correlation exists between flares (mainly confined to the solar
atmosphere) and coronal mass ejections that, by definition, expel magnetized
clouds into the interplanetary space ?
-- Can the charged particles emitted during these events and arriving to the Earth
ionosphere have a role in the observed variations of the night-sky background?
The attempt to provide answers to the previous questions has been faced in this
Thesis from an observational / statistical point of view.
More precisely, the dataset that have been used in order to answer the first two
questions have been retrieved from public archives of flares and coronal mass ejections
relevant to the last two solar cycles (23 and 24), while in order to provide an
answer to the third question, also data acquired by the Pierre Auger Observatory
have been used.
The main results obtained in this Thesis can be summarized as follows:
-- The spatial and temporal distribution of the flares analyzed show persistent
domains of occurrence within well defined belts of longitude, with a behavior
similar to the one observed for other activity phenomena, like the sunspots.
-- There is a temporal correlation between flares and CMEs for the 60 % of the
events analyzed; the time interval (between 10-130 minutes) however depends
on the dataset used. Moreover, the majority of CMEs with highest velocities
show a clear temporal correlation with flares.
-- The variations in the night-sky background analyzed for the nights when a
major impact of charged particles associated to CMEs was expected, could not
be clearly correlated to these events