Spring Schedule 2025

Powerful solar eruptions are known to produce large variety of physical phenomena: energetic flares resulting from magnetic reconnection, driving fast and wide mass ejections and shock waves, producing energetic non-thermal particles, etc. The relationship between these phenomena is a subject of long-lasting research activity. During a solar eruption two distinct zones appear to efficiently convert some part of free energy into energetic particles and radiation: (1) flaring region where magnetic reconnection triggers the eruption and (2) shock front that develops during the expansion of the coronal mass ejection. In this presentation we will address some observational and modelling aspects of coronal shock reconstruction and their link with solar energetic particles which are measured in-situ by the heliospheric spacecraft fleet. The properties of the shock depend strongly on the state of the highly structured solar corona, modulating the efficiency of different parts of the shock in accelerating particles. We will present a couple of case studies that demonstrate a tight link between the evolution of the shock and properties of SEPs. 

 Abstract: Jupiter’s atmosphere is one of the most turbulent places in the solar system. The Juno spacecraft discovered that Jovian high latitudes host a cluster of large cyclones with diameter of around 5,000 km, each associated with intermediate- (roughly between 500 and 1,500 km) and smaller-scale vortices and filaments of around 100 km. Here, we analyse infrared images from Juno with a high resolution of 10 km. We unveil a dynamical regime associated with a significant energy source of convective origin that peaks at 100 km scales and in which energy gets subsequently transferred upscale to the large circumpolar and polar cyclones.  This energy route is expected to enhance the heat transfer from Jupiter’s hot interior to its troposphere and may also be relevant to the Earth’s atmosphere, helping us better understand the dynamics of our own planet. Results also show that the filaments are dynamically active, reminiscent of terrestrial frontogenesis and that Jovian frontogenesis acts in concert with moist convection, with the former mechanism favouring the development of cyclones and the latter the development of anticyclones. This talk highlights the broad range of interacting scales from tens to thousands of kilometres and the diverse physical mechanisms active at Jovian high latitudes.

The assembly history of the satellites of the Milky Way is still an unexplored field of research. The Large Magellanic Cloud is expected to have a number of satellites of different masses, the only one firmly recognised being the Small Magellanic Cloud. In the search of these missing "satellites of satellites" the investigation of the chemical composition is a key tool to identify tracers of past merger events. In this talk I will discuss the chemical composition of old globular clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud in order to reconstruct the chemical enrichment and the assembly history of this galaxy. 

 The Milky Way is not just our cosmic address — it's the environment that gave rise to the solar system, the Earth, and life itself. Yet, despite being embedded within it, we still know surprisingly little about its true 3D structure. Much of our view of the broader universe is filtered through the dust, magnetic fields, and complex dynamics of our galaxy, and cast in a 2D projection, making it difficult to observe both distant galaxies and the astrophysical metabolistm processes within our own. In this talk, I’ll present our quest to build the first comprehensive, three-dimensional atlas of the Milky Way. Combining cutting-edge astronomical data with powerful algorithms rooted in information field theory, our team is creating the most detailed, self-consistent, and uncertainty-aware map of our galaxy to date. I’ll show how this atlas will shed light on key questions in cosmology, cosmic rays, and the interstellar medium — and how the technologies we’re developing can even be applied beyond astronomy, from medical imaging to Earth observation.