| 1. |
- Krasnoselskikh, Vladimir, et al.
(author)
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ICARUS : in-situ studies of the solar corona beyond Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter
- 2022
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Nature. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 54:2-3, s. 277-315
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The primary scientific goal of ICARUS (Investigation of Coronal AcceleRation and heating of solar wind Up to the Sun), a mother-daughter satellite mission, proposed in response to the ESA “Voyage 2050” Call, will be to determine how the magnetic field and plasma dynamics in the outer solar atmosphere give rise to the corona, the solar wind, and the entire heliosphere. Reaching this goal will be a Rosetta Stone step, with results that are broadly applicable within the fields of space plasma physics and astrophysics. Within ESA’s Cosmic Vision roadmap, these science goals address Theme 2: “How does the Solar System work?” by investigating basic processes occurring “From the Sun to the edge of the Solar System”. ICARUS will not only advance our understanding of the plasma environment around our Sun, but also of the numerous magnetically active stars with hot plasma coronae. ICARUS I will perform the first direct in situ measurements of electromagnetic fields, particle acceleration, wave activity, energy distribution, and flows directly in the regions in which the solar wind emerges from the coronal plasma. ICARUS I will have a perihelion altitude of 1 solar radius and will cross the region where the major energy deposition occurs. The polar orbit of ICARUS I will enable crossing the regions where both the fast and slow winds are generated. It will probe the local characteristics of the plasma and provide unique information about the physical processes involved in the creation of the solar wind. ICARUS II will observe this region using remote-sensing instruments, providing simultaneous, contextual information about regions crossed by ICARUS I and the solar atmosphere below as observed by solar telescopes. It will thus provide bridges for understanding the magnetic links between the heliosphere and the solar atmosphere. Such information is crucial to our understanding of the plasma physics and electrodynamics of the solar atmosphere. ICARUS II will also play a very important relay role, enabling the radio-link with ICARUS I. It will receive, collect, and store information transmitted from ICARUS I during its closest approach to the Sun. It will also perform preliminary data processing before transmitting it to Earth. Performing such unique in situ observations in the area where presumably hazardous solar energetic particles are energized, ICARUS will provide fundamental advances in our capabilities to monitor and forecast the space radiation environment. Therefore, the results from the ICARUS mission will be extremely crucial for future space explorations, especially for long-term crewed space missions.
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| 2. |
- Chintzoglou, Georgios, et al.
(author)
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ALMA and IRIS Observations of the Solar Chromosphere. I. An On-disk Type II Spicule
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 906:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present observations of the solar chromosphere obtained simultaneously with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. The observatories targeted a chromospheric plage region of which the spatial distribution (split between strongly and weakly magnetized regions) allowed the study of linear-like structures in isolation, free of contamination from background emission. Using these observations in conjunction with a radiative magnetohydrodynamic 2.5D model covering the upper convection zone all the way to the corona that considers nonequilibrium ionization effects, we report the detection of an on-disk chromospheric spicule with ALMA and confirm its multithermal nature.
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| 3. |
- Chintzoglou, Georgios, et al.
(author)
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ALMA and IRIS Observations of the Solar Chromosphere. II. Structure and Dynamics of Chromospheric Plages
- 2021
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 906:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We propose and employ a novel empirical method for determining chromospheric plage regions, which seems to better isolate a plage from its surrounding regions than other methods commonly used. We caution that isolating a plage from its immediate surroundings must be done with care in order to successfully mitigate statistical biases that, for instance, can impact quantitative comparisons between different chromospheric observables. Using this methodology, our analysis suggests that lambda = 1.25 mm free-free emission in plage regions observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)/Band6 may not form in the low chromosphere as previously thought, but rather in the upper chromospheric parts of dynamic plage features (such as spicules and other bright structures), i.e., near geometric heights of transition-region temperatures. We investigate the high degree of similarity between chromospheric plage features observed in ALMA/Band6 (at 1.25 mm wavelengths) and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)/Si iv at 1393 angstrom. We also show that IRIS/Mg ii h and k are not as well correlated with ALMA/Band6 as was previously thought, and we discuss discrepancies with previous works. Lastly, we report indications of chromospheric heating due to propagating shocks supported by the ALMA/Band6 observations.
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| 4. |
- De Pontieu, Bart, et al.
(author)
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Probing the Physics of the Solar Atmosphere with the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE). I. Coronal Heating
- 2022
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 926:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) is a proposed mission composed of a multislit extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrograph (in three spectral bands around 171 Å, 284 Å, and 108 Å) and an EUV context imager (in two passbands around 195 Å and 304 Å). MUSE will provide unprecedented spectral and imaging diagnostics of the solar corona at high spatial (≤05) and temporal resolution (down to ∼0.5 s for sit-and-stare observations), thanks to its innovative multislit design. By obtaining spectra in four bright EUV lines (Fe ix 171 Å, Fe xv 284 Å, Fe xix–Fe xxi 108 Å) covering a wide range of transition regions and coronal temperatures along 37 slits simultaneously, MUSE will, for the first time, "freeze" (at a cadence as short as 10 s) with a spectroscopic raster the evolution of the dynamic coronal plasma over a wide range of scales: from the spatial scales on which energy is released (≤05) to the large-scale (∼170'' × 170'') atmospheric response. We use numerical modeling to showcase how MUSE will constrain the properties of the solar atmosphere on spatiotemporal scales (≤05, ≤20 s) and the large field of view on which state-of-the-art models of the physical processes that drive coronal heating, flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) make distinguishing and testable predictions. We describe the synergy between MUSE, the single-slit, high-resolution Solar-C EUVST spectrograph, and ground-based observatories (DKIST and others), and the critical role MUSE plays because of the multiscale nature of the physical processes involved. In this first paper, we focus on coronal heating mechanisms. An accompanying paper focuses on flares and CMEs.
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| 5. |
- Martínez-Sykora, Juan, et al.
(author)
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Chromospheric Heating from Local Magnetic Growth and Ambipolar Diffusion under Nonequilibrium Conditions
- 2023
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 943:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The heating of the chromosphere in internetwork regions remains one of the foremost open questions in solar physics. In the present study, we tackle this old problem by using a very-high-spatial-resolution simulation of quiet-Sun conditions performed with radiative MHD numerical models and interface region imaging spectrograph (IRIS) observations. We have expanded a previously existing 3D radiative MHD numerical model of the solar atmosphere, which included self-consistently locally driven magnetic amplification in the chromosphere, by adding ambipolar diffusion and time-dependent nonequilibrium hydrogen ionization to the model. The energy of the magnetic field is dissipated in the upper chromosphere, providing a large temperature increase due to ambipolar diffusion and nonequilibrium ionization (NEQI). At the same time, we find that adding the ambipolar diffusion and NEQI in the simulation has a minor impact on the local growth of the magnetic field in the lower chromosphere and its dynamics. Our comparison between synthesized Mg ii profiles from these high-spatial-resolution models, with and without ambipolar diffusion and NEQI, and quiet-Sun and coronal hole observations from IRIS now reveal a slightly better correspondence. The intensity of profiles is increased, and the line cores are slightly broader when ambipolar diffusion and NEQI effects are included. Therefore, the Mg ii profiles are closer to those observed than in previous models, though some differences still remain.
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| 6. |
- Martínez-Sykora, Juan, et al.
(author)
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The Formation Height of Millimeter-wavelength Emission in the Solar Chromosphere
- 2020
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 891:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the past few years, the ALMA radio telescope has become available for solar observations. ALMA diagnostics of the solar atmosphere are of high interest because of the theoretically expected linear relationship between the brightness temperature at millimeter wavelengths and the local gas temperature in the solar atmosphere. Key for the interpretation of solar ALMA observations is understanding where in the solar atmosphere the ALMA emission originates. Recent theoretical studies have suggested that ALMA bands at 1.2 (band 6) and 3 mm (band 3) form in the middle and upper chromosphere at significantly different heights. We study the formation of ALMA diagnostics using a 2.5D radiative MHD model that includes the effects of ion-neutral interactions (ambipolar diffusion) and nonequilibrium ionization of hydrogen and helium. Our results suggest that in active regions and network regions, observations at both wavelengths most often originate from similar heights in the upper chromosphere, contrary to previous results. Nonequilibrium ionization increases the opacity in the chromosphere so that ALMA mostly observes spicules and fibrils along the canopy fields. We combine these modeling results with observations from IRIS, SDO, and ALMA to suggest a new interpretation for the recently reported dark chromospheric holes, regions of very low temperatures in the chromosphere.
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| 7. |
- Cheung, Mark C. M., et al.
(author)
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Probing the Physics of the Solar Atmosphere with the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE). II. Flares and Eruptions
- 2022
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 926:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current state-of-the-art spectrographs cannot resolve the fundamental spatial (subarcseconds) and temporal (less than a few tens of seconds) scales of the coronal dynamics of solar flares and eruptive phenomena. The highest-resolution coronal data to date are based on imaging, which is blind to many of the processes that drive coronal energetics and dynamics. As shown by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph for the low solar atmosphere, we need high-resolution spectroscopic measurements with simultaneous imaging to understand the dominant processes. In this paper: (1) we introduce the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE), a spaceborne observatory to fill this observational gap by providing high-cadence (<20 s), subarcsecond-resolution spectroscopic rasters over an active region size of the solar transition region and corona; (2) using advanced numerical models, we demonstrate the unique diagnostic capabilities of MUSE for exploring solar coronal dynamics and for constraining and discriminating models of solar flares and eruptions; (3) we discuss the key contributions MUSE would make in addressing the science objectives of the Next Generation Solar Physics Mission (NGSPM), and how MUSE, the high-throughput Extreme Ultraviolet Solar Telescope, and the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope (and other ground-based observatories) can operate as a distributed implementation of the NGSPM. This is a companion paper to De Pontieu et al., which focuses on investigating coronal heating with MUSE.
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| 8. |
- Ishikawa, Ryohko, et al.
(author)
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Mapping solar magnetic fields from the photosphere to the base of the corona
- 2021
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In: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 7:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Routine ultraviolet imaging of the Sun’s upper atmosphere shows the spectacular manifestation of solar activity; yet, we remain blind to its main driver, the magnetic field. Here, we report unprecedented spectropolarimetric observations of an active region plage and its surrounding enhanced network, showing circular polarization in ultraviolet (Mg ii h & k and Mn i) and visible (Fe i) lines. We infer the longitudinal magnetic field from the photosphere to the very upper chromosphere. At the top of the plage chromosphere, the field strengths reach more than 300 G, strongly correlated with the Mg ii k line core intensity and the electron pressure. This unique mapping shows how the magnetic field couples the different atmospheric layers and reveals the magnetic origin of the heating in the plage chromosphere.
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| 9. |
- Martinez-Sykora, Juan, et al.
(author)
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Ion-neutral Interactions and Nonequilibrium Ionization in the Solar Chromosphere
- 2020
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 889:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The thermal structure of the chromosphere is regulated through a complex interaction of various heating processes, radiative cooling, and the ionization degree of the plasma. Here, we study the impact on the thermal properties of the chromosphere when including the combined action of nonequilibrium ionization (NEI) of hydrogen and helium and ion-neutral interaction effects. We have performed a 2.5D radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulation using the Bifrost code. This model includes ion-neutral interaction effects by solving the generalized Ohm' s law (GOL) as well as NEI for hydrogen and helium. The GOL equation includes ambipolar diffusion and the Hall term. We compare this simulation with another simulation that computes the ionization in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) including ion-neutral interaction effects. Our numerical models reveal substantial thermal differences in magneto-acoustic shocks, the wake behind the shocks, spicules, low-lying magnetic loops, and the transition region. In particular, we find that heating through ambipolar diffusion in shock wakes is substantially less efficient, while in the shock fronts themselves it is more efficient, under NEI conditions than when assuming LTE.
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| 10. |
- Song, Donguk, et al.
(author)
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Polarization Accuracy Verification of the Chromospheric LAyer SpectroPolarimeter
- 2022
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In: Solar Physics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0038-0938 .- 1573-093X. ; 297:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have developed an advanced UV spectropolarimeter called Chromospheric LAyer SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP2), aimed at achieving very high accuracy measurements (<0.1% at 3σ) of the linear (Q/I and U/I) and circular (V/I) polarizations of the Mg II h and k lines (280 nm). CLASP2 was launched on board a NASA sounding rocket on April 11, 2019. It successfully detected the full Stokes vector in an active-region plage and in the quiet Sun near the limb across the Mg II h and k lines for the first time. To verify the polarization characteristics of CLASP2, the response matrix is estimated by combining the results obtained from the preflight calibration on the ground, with the results of the inflight calibration acquired at the solar-disk center. We find that the response matrix of CLASP2 in the Mg II h and k lines is notably close to an ideal response matrix, i.e., the scale factor and the crosstalk terms are close to 1 and 0, respectively. Moreover, the uncertainty of each Stokes parameter estimated by the repeatability of the measurements is verified to be within the required tolerance. Based on our investigation, we conclude that CLASP2 achieves 0.1% polarization accuracy at a 3σ3σ level.
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