Solar maximum mission: Ground support programs at the Harvard Radio Astronomy Station

Observations of the spectral characteristics of solar radio bursts were made with new dynamic spectrum analyzers of high sensitivity and high reliability, over the frequency range 25-580 MHz. The observations also covered the maximum period of the current solar cycle and the period of international cooperative programs designated as the Solar Maximum Year. Radio data on shock waves generated by solar flares were combined with optical data on coronal transients, taken with equipment on the SMM and other satellites, and then incorporated into computer models for the outward passage of fast-mode MHD shocks through the solar corona. The MHD models are non-linear, time-dependent and for the most recent models, quasi-three-dimensional. They examine the global response of the corona for different types of input pulses (thermal, magnetic, etc.) and for different magnetic topologies (for example, open and closed fields). Data on coronal shocks and high-velocity material ejected from solar flares have been interpreted in terms of a model consisting of three main velocity regimes

Experimental solar radio spectrum analyzer (50-100 MHz)

Summarized is the work carried out under a NASA Grant covering the period 15 October 1977 to 14 January 1978. The grant provided funds for the acquisition of an experimental radio spectrum analyzer covering the band 50-100 MHz, for use in a program of solar radio observations. Components for the experimental analyzer were duly obtained, and the system was assembled, checked, and put into operation in early February 1978. The analyzer is working in an entirely satisfactory manner and, from the time that it has been put into operation, it has played an important part in the on-going research programs in solar radio astronomy being conducted