Rutgers University Astrophysics Seminar

The Sun hosts a wide range of explosive phenomena, from small brightenings and jets to large solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Thanks to their proximity, these events can be studied with exceptionally high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution across a broad range of wavelengths—and occasionally via in situ spacecraft measurements. Most of these explosive phenomena are thought to result from sudden reconfigurations of the Sun’s magnetic field through a process known as magnetic reconnection.

Despite achieving spatial resolutions below 100 km, critical questions about the mechanisms driving the explosive energy release and the associated processes remain unresolved. Key challenges include understanding how vast numbers of charged particles are accelerated to high energies and identifying the processes that energize the million-degree solar corona and solar wind. One major obstacle is the difficulty of measuring rapidly evolving magnetic fields and tracing the highly mobile accelerated particles in the Sun’s corona. Over the past decade, radio imaging spectroscopy has emerged as a transformative tool, offering unique insights into these elusive processes. In this talk, I will review recent advances in understanding solar explosions, focusing on findings from radio observations. I will also discuss current limitations and future prospects in this area.