Week 7

Marcos V -

Hello and welcome to week 7 of my senior project!

This week was a lot of preliminary research again. Starting over with a new analysis method is taking a good amount of time. The issue I was facing previously was that none of the data I found had the correct Stokes parameters. Stokes I, Q/U, and V denote different kinds of polarization effects taken during the measurement or observation. The Zeeman effect only affects circular polarization, or Stokes V data, which I was unable to find anywhere. On the other hand, Stokes Q and U denote linear polarization. With this kind of data, I could analyze the structure of the magnetic field by calculating the polarization angle and creating a vector map, overlaying it across an image of the plasma ejections to visually demonstrate how the magnetic field shapes and influences the ejections. Searching for suitable data is very time-consuming, as I have to use various sources to extract relevant data, each with its own method of querying. Some sources, like the Very Large Array telescope in New Mexico and ALMA in the Atacama Desert of Chile, have easy, accessible portals where you can search for observations using coordinates. Others, like the Vizier catalog, have more complex, less intuitive search methods that require more time and effort to explore.

Regardless of the difficulties, I am determined to bring forth some result by the end of this project. Thank you for following along, and I hope to present something meaningful to you soon.

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Comments:

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    aashi_h
    Hey Marcos, I admire your persistence in working on this project! What result do you hope to find by the end of this research process?
    marcos_v
    Hey Aashi, good question! When I began the project I was looking for concrete, numerical results, quantitative demonstrations of how magnetic fields influence this bizarre astrophysical event. However, with recent developments, I hope to put forth any indication of that influence, even if that means merely demonstrating the presence of magnetic fields in a qualitative fashion.

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