CAREER: Hunting Magnetic Fingerprints on the Sun--A Tale of Flare-Jet Connections

Solar flares are sudden releases of energy from the Sun’s magnetic field that can disrupt satellite operations, radio communication, GPS signals, and other space-based technologies. A major challenge is that scientists still lack reliable short-notice warnings for when a flare is about to begin. This CAREER project studies fast, small-scale activity in the Sun’s lower atmosphere, including chromospheric jets and compact brightenings that may appear shortly before flares. By identifying repeatable “magnetic fingerprints” of flare onset, the research will improve understanding of flare initiation and support the development of space-weather nowcasting tools that help anticipate solar activity affecting modern technological systems. The project, “Hunting Magnetic Fingerprints on the Sun: A Tale of Flare Jet Connections,” uses high-cadence observations from the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope and coordinated space-based context. It will analyze a curated archive of more than 50 flare events observed in chromospheric diagnostics. The analysis will quantify jet and brightening properties, including timing, occurrence rates, morphology, and basic kinematics. It will test whether specific precursor patterns appear in the 10 to 30 minute window before flare onset and whether they persist across many events. The work will apply reproducible detection and tracking methods to build event-level catalogs and standardized precursor metrics. It will also compare precursor regions with co-aligned coronal observations to assess how low-atmosphere activity relates to early coronal changes. Key deliverables will include a public archive of processed event cutouts, metadata, derived catalogs, and analysis scripts. These products will support community benchmarking and enable future real-time applications. The expected outcome is an observationally grounded assessment of flare jet connections and the reliability of precursor behavior for short-notice forecasting. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2541020 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT,01002930DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Juie Shetye | Institution: New Mexico State University, LAS CRUCES, NM | Award Amount: $382,856 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2541020 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2541020.html