First Day!

Today was my very first day at RIT as an intern! Everyone else started last Wednesday, so I suppose I am the late comer. Everyone is so kind and welcoming, so I am settling in just fine. As the title of my blog suggests, I am working with space weather. Dr. D. gave me a basic intro of what I will be doing, and to be completely honest, it went a little over my head. After getting started with the data, however, things become much more clear. I will try to give a basic summary of what I will be doing for a little while. I am currently looking at a camera that captures images of coronal mass ejections. I am then comparing the dates and times of the images taken to a chart the measures the energy of x-rays, protons, and electrons. I then compare these energies to see if the CME reached earth. It sounds complicated but it really isn't too bad once you get it figured out, or once you ask Dr. D. a thousand questions. Once I know if it reaches earth, I use basic physics to determine the velocity of the CME. By comparing velocities, I can then figure out the drag on the CME. So I'm assuming this task will take me a bit, but we shall see.

There's one other space weather intern, whose name is Matt. Basically he's doing the theory of things and I'm doing the experimental side. He seems pretty cool, and I'm not just saying that because he's standing over my shoulder. We both share a lovely lab in the basement of the building which lacks windows and natural sunlight. Yay for fluorescent lights! But in all seriousness, our lab is quite nice and we're haing a great time!

Now, time to get back to work and to continue learning about my task!

Halle, SC