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Michael Kirk

Teaching Assistant
Entered: 2008
Office: 107 Astronomy
Phone: (575)646-4939
Fax: (575)646-1602
 
E-mail: mskirk
(append "@nmsu.edu")
 
Photo
B.A. Whitman College, 2006

Research

I was a physics and astronomy major at Whitman College, and worked as a summer intern on a variety of research projects, including interstellar abundances. My interest in astronomy and in space also translated to flight training, and a pilot's license.

For the last two years, I have worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center. With Dr. Dean Pesnell, I have studied detection methods for solar polar coronal holes. I have been working to develop techniques for using the solar limb for feature identification, tracing the location of the Sun's outwardly directed polar magnetic field using a feature on the limb. I have also investigated ways to calibrate solar images taken in the EUV but many years apart. I am very curious about the key processes which drive the solar dynamo and changes in the solar polarity, and predictive tests for charting the future activity level of the Sun.

I began my graduate studies in August 2008 and am continuing my work with solar astronomy and image processing. My advisor is Dr. Jason Jackiewicz.

Refereed Publications

Automated Detection of EUV Polar Coronal Holes During Solar Cycle 23 (submitted)
M. S. Kirk · W. D. Pesnell · C. A. Young · S. A. Hess Webber

Meetings

March 2008: SDO Science Teams Meeting
Poster: Automated Detection of Polar Coronal Holes in the EUV
Michael Kirk · Dean Pesnell

December 2007: American Geophysical Union meeting
Poster:
Methods of Detecting Polar Coronal Holes in the EUV
Michael Kirk · Dean Pesnell

September 2007: NASA Living with a Star meeting
Poster: Getting Something From Nothing: Polar Coronal Holes in Cycles 22 and 23
Shea Hess Webber · Michael Kirk · Dean Pesnell
















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