| 1. |
- Felipe, T., et al.
(författare)
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Three-dimensional structure of a sunspot light bridge
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Active regions are the most prominent manifestations of solar magnetic fields; their generation and dissipation are fundamental problems in solar physics. Light bridges are commonly present during sunspot decay, but a comprehensive picture of their role in the removal of the photospheric magnetic field is still lacking. Aims. We study the three-dimensional configuration of a sunspot, and in particular, its light bridge, during one of the last stages of its decay. Methods. We present the magnetic and thermodynamical stratification inferred from full Stokes inversions of the photospheric Si I 10 827 angstrom and Ca I 10 839 angstrom lines obtained with the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph of the GREGOR telescope at the Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, Spain. The analysis is complemented by a study of continuum images covering the disk passage of the active region, which are provided by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Results. The sunspot shows a light bridge with penumbral continuum intensity that separates the central umbra from a smaller umbra. We find that in this region the magnetic field lines form a canopy with lower magnetic field strength in the inner part. The photospheric light bridge is dominated by gas pressure (high-beta), as opposed to the surrounding umbra, where the magnetic pressure is higher. A convective flow is observed in the light bridge. This flow is able to bend the magnetic field lines and to produce field reversals. The field lines merge above the light bridge and become as vertical and strong as in the surrounding umbra. We conclude that this occurs because two highly magnetized regions approach each other during the sunspot evolution.
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| 2. |
- Joshi, Jayant, et al.
(författare)
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Upper chromospheric magnetic field of a sunspot penumbra : observations of fine structure
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. The fine-structure of the magnetic field in a sunspot penumbra in the upper chromosphere is to be explored and compared to that in the photosphere. Methods. Spectropolarimetric observations with high spatial resolution were recorded with the 1.5-m GREGOR telescope using the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS). The observed spectral domain includes the upper chromospheric Hei triplet at 10 830 angstrom and the photospheric Si I 10 827.1 angstrom and Ca I 10 833.4 angstrom spectral lines. The upper chromospheric magnetic field is obtained by inverting the Hei triplet assuming a Milne-Eddington-type model atmosphere. A height-dependent inversion was applied to the Si I 10 827.1 angstrom and Ca I 10 833.4 angstrom lines to obtain the photospheric magnetic field. Results. We find that the inclination of the magnetic field varies in the azimuthal direction in the photosphere and in the upper chromosphere. The chromospheric variations coincide remarkably well with the variations in the inclination of the photospheric field and resemble the well-known spine and interspine structure in the photospheric layers of penumbrae. The typical peak-to-peak variations in the inclination of the magnetic field in the upper chromosphere are found to be 10 degrees-15 degrees, which is roughly half the variation in the photosphere. In contrast, the magnetic field strength of the observed penumbra does not vary on small spatial scales in the upper chromosphere. Conclusions. Thanks to the high spatial resolution of the observations that is possible with the GREGOR telescope at 1.08 microns, we find that the prominent small-scale fluctuations in the magnetic field inclination, which are a salient part of the property of sunspot penumbral photospheres, also persist in the chromosphere, although at somewhat reduced amplitudes. Such a complex magnetic configuration may facilitate penumbral chromospheric dynamic phenomena, such as penumbral micro-jets or transient bright dots.
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| 3. |
- Martinez Gonzalez, M. J., et al.
(författare)
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ON THE MAGNETISM AND DYNAMICS OF PROMINENCE LEGS HOSTING TORNADOES
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 825:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Solar tornadoes are dark vertical filamentary structures observed in the extreme ultraviolet associated with prominence legs and filament barbs. Their true nature and relationship to prominences requires an understanding of their magnetic structure and dynamic properties. Recently, a controversy has arisen: is the magnetic field organized forming vertical, helical structures or is it dominantly horizontal? And concerning their dynamics, are tornadoes really rotating or is it just a visual illusion? Here we analyze four consecutive spectro-polarimetric scans of a prominence hosting tornadoes on its legs, which helps us shed some light on their magnetic and dynamical properties. We show that the magnetic field is very smooth in all the prominence, which is probably an intrinsic property of the coronal field. The prominence legs have vertical helical fields that show slow temporal variation that is probably related to the motion of the fibrils. Concerning the dynamics, we argue that (1) if rotation exists, it is intermittent, lasting no more than one hour, and (2) the observed velocity pattern is also consistent with an oscillatory velocity pattern (waves).
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| 4. |
- Noda, C. Quintero, et al.
(författare)
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Diagnostic capabilities of spectropolarimetric observations for understanding solar phenomena : I. Zeeman-sensitive photospheric lines
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 652
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Future ground-based telescopes will expand our capabilities for simultaneous multi-line polarimetric observations in a wide range of wavelengths, from the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared. This creates a strong demand to compare candidate spectral lines to establish a guideline of the lines that are most appropriate for each observation target. We focused in this first work on Zeeman-sensitive photospheric lines in the visible and infrared. We first examined their polarisation signals and response functions using a 1D semi-empirical atmosphere. Then we studied the spatial distribution of the line core intensity and linear and circular polarisation signals using a realistic 3D numerical simulation. We ran inversions of synthetic profiles, and we compared the heights at which we obtain a high correlation between the input and the inferred atmosphere. We also used this opportunity to revisit the atomic information we have on these lines and computed the broadening cross-sections due to collisions with neutral hydrogen atoms for all the studied spectral lines. The results reveal that four spectral lines stand out from the rest for quiet-Sun and network conditions: Fe I 5250.2, 6302, 8468, and 15 648 angstrom. The first three form higher in the atmosphere, and the last line is mainly sensitive to the atmospheric parameters at the bottom of the photosphere. However, as they reach different heights, we strongly recommend using at least one of the first three candidates together with the Fe I 15 648 angstrom line to optimise our capabilities for inferring the thermal and magnetic properties of the lower atmosphere.
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| 5. |
- Quintero Noda, C., et al.
(författare)
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A study of the capabilities for inferring atmospheric information from high-spatial-resolution simulations
- 2023
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 675
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, we study the accuracy that can be achieved when inferring the atmospheric information from realistic numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations that reproduce the spatial resolution we will obtain with future observations made by the 4 m class telescopes DKIST and EST. We first study multiple inversion configurations using the SIR code and the Fe i transitions at 630 nm until we obtain minor differences between the input and the inferred atmosphere in a wide range of heights. Also, we examine how the inversion accuracy depends on the noise level of the Stokes profiles. The results indicate that when the majority of the inverted pixels come from strongly magnetised areas, there are almost no restrictions in terms of the noise, obtaining good results for noise amplitudes up to 1 x 10(-3) of I-c. At the same time, the situation is different for observations where the dominant magnetic structures are weak, and noise restraints are more demanding. Moreover, we find that the accuracy of the fits is almost the same as that obtained without noise when the noise levels are on the order of 1 x 10(-4) of I-c. We, therefore, advise aiming for noise values on the order of or lower than 5 x 10(-4) of I-c if observers seek reliable interpretations of the results for the magnetic field vector reliably. We expect those noise levels to be achievable by next-generation 4m class telescopes thanks to an optimised polarisation calibration and the large collecting area of the primary mirror.
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| 6. |
- Berkefeld, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Site-seeing measurements for the European Solar Telescope
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes III. ; , s. 77334I-
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Seeing measurements are crucial for the optimum design of (multi-conjugate) adaptive optics systems operating at solar telescopes. For the design study of the 4-meter European Solar Telescope, to be located in the Canary Islands, several instruments have been constructed and operated, at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (La Palma) and at the Observatorio del Teide (Tenerife), to measure the properties of the ground layer and medium-high altitude turbulence. Several units of short (42.34 cm) and two long (323.06 cm) scintillometer bars are, or are to be, installed at both observatories. In addition to them, two wide-field wavefront sensors will be attached to the optical beams of the Swedish tower, on La Palma, and of the German VTT, on Tenerife, simultaneously used with the normal operation of the telescopes. These wavefront sensors are of Shack-Hartmann type with ~1 arcminute field of view. In this contribution, the instruments setup and their performance are described.
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| 7. |
- Pastor Yabar, Adur, et al.
(författare)
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Polarimetric characterization of segmented mirrors
- 2022
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Ingår i: Applied Optics. - 1559-128X .- 2155-3165. ; 61:16, s. 4908-4918
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study the impact of the loss of axial symmetry around the optical axis on the polarimetric properties of a telescope with a segmented primary mirror when each segment is present in a different aging stage. The different oxidation stage of each segment as it is substituted in time leads to nonnegligible cross-talk terms. This effect is wavelength dependent, and it is mainly determined by the properties of the reflecting material. For an aluminum coating, the worst polarimetric behavior due to oxidation is found for the blue part of the visible. Contrarily, dust—as modeled in this work—does not significantly change the polarimetric behavior of the optical system. Depending on the telescope, there might be segment substitution sequences that strongly attenuate this instrumental polarization.
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| 8. |
- Quintero Noda, C., et al.
(författare)
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The European Solar Telescope
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 666
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a project aimed at studying the magnetic connectivity of the solar atmosphere, from the deep photosphere to the upper chromosphere. Its design combines the knowledge and expertise gathered by the European solar physics community during the construction and operation of state-of-the-art solar telescopes operating in visible and near-infrared wavelengths: the Swedish 1m Solar Telescope, the German Vacuum Tower Telescope and GREGOR, the French Télescope Héliographique pour l’Étude du Magnétisme et des Instabilités Solaires, and the Dutch Open Telescope. With its 4.2 m primary mirror and an open configuration, EST will become the most powerful European ground-based facility to study the Sun in the coming decades in the visible and near-infrared bands. EST uses the most innovative technological advances: the first adaptive secondary mirror ever used in a solar telescope, a complex multi-conjugate adaptive optics with deformable mirrors that form part of the optical design in a natural way, a polarimetrically compensated telescope design that eliminates the complex temporal variation and wavelength dependence of the telescope Mueller matrix, and an instrument suite containing several (etalon-based) tunable imaging spectropolarimeters and several integral field unit spectropolarimeters. This publication summarises some fundamental science questions that can be addressed with the telescope, together with a complete description of its major subsystems.
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