The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) small explorer spacecraft provides simultaneous spectra and images of the photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona with 0.33 – 0.4 arcsec spatial resolution, two-second temporal resolution, and 1 km s−1 velocity resolution over a field-of-view of up to 175 arcsec × 175 arcsec. IRIS was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit on 27 June 2013 using a Pegasus-XL rocket and consists of a 19-cm UV telescope that feeds a slit-based dual-bandpass imaging spectrograph. IRIS obtains spectra in passbands from 1332 – 1358 A, 1389 – 1407 A, and 2783 – 2834 A, including bright spectral lines formed in the chromosphere (Mg ii h 2803 A and Mg ii k 2796 A) and transition region (C ii 1334/1335 A and Si iv 1394/1403 A). Slit-jaw images in four different passbands (C ii 1330, Si iv 1400, Mg ii k 2796, and Mg ii wing 2830 A) can be taken simultaneously with spectral rasters that sample regions up to 130 arcsec × 175 arcsec at a variety of spatial samplings (from 0.33 arcsec and up). IRIS is sensitive to emission from plasma at temperatures between 5000 K and 10 MK and will advance our understanding of the flow of mass and energy through an interface region, formed by the chromosphere and transition region, between the photosphere and corona. This highly structured and dynamic region not only acts as the conduit of all mass and energy feeding into the corona and solar wind, it also requires an order of magnitude more energy to heat than the corona and solar wind combined. The IRIS investigation includes a strong numerical modeling component based on advanced radiative–MHD codes to facilitate interpretation of observations of this complex region. Approximately eight Gbytes of data (after compression) are acquired by IRIS each day and made available for unrestricted use within a few days of the observation.

/pdf/the-interface-region-imaging-spectrograph-iris-52t0ocd17t.pdf

The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)

The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) small explorer spacecraft provides simultaneous spectra and images of the photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona with 0.33-0.4 arcsec spatial resolution, 2 s temporal resolution and 1 km/s velocity resolution over a field-of-view of up to 175 arcsec x 175 arcsec. IRIS was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit on 27 June 2013 using a Pegasus-XL rocket and consists of a 19-cm UV telescope that feeds a slit-based dual-bandpass imaging spectrograph. IRIS obtains spectra in passbands from 1332-1358, 1389-1407 and 2783-2834 Angstrom including bright spectral lines formed in the chromosphere (Mg II h 2803 Angstrom and Mg II k 2796 Angstrom) and transition region (C II 1334/1335 Angstrom and Si IV 1394/1403 Angstrom). Slit-jaw images in four different passbands (C II 1330, Si IV 1400, Mg II k 2796 and Mg II wing 2830 Angstrom) can be taken simultaneously with spectral rasters that sample regions up to 130 arcsec x 175 arcsec at a variety of spatial samplings (from 0.33 arcsec and up). IRIS is sensitive to emission from plasma at temperatures between 5000 K and 10 MK and will advance our understanding of the flow of mass and energy through an interface region, formed by the chromosphere and transition region, between the photosphere and corona. This highly structured and dynamic region not only acts as the conduit of all mass and energy feeding into the corona and solar wind, it also requires an order of magnitude more energy to heat than the corona and solar wind combined. The IRIS investigation includes a strong numerical modeling component based on advanced radiative-MHD codes to facilitate interpretation of observations of this complex region. Approximately eight Gbytes of data (after compression) are acquired by IRIS each day and made available for unrestricted use within a few days of the observation.

/pdf/the-interface-region-imaging-spectrograph-iris-2piw9mvbd7.pdf

The splitting of the frequencies of the global resonant acoustic modes of the Sun by large-scale flows and rotation permits study of the variation of angular velocity Ω with both radius and latitude within the turbulent convection zone and the deeper radiative interior. The nearly uninterrupted Doppler imaging observations, provided by the Solar Oscillations Investigation (SOI) using the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft positioned at the L1 Lagrangian point in continuous sunlight, yield oscillation power spectra with very high signal-to-noise ratios that allow frequency splittings to be determined with exceptional accuracy. This paper reports on joint helioseismic analyses of solar rotation in the convection zone and in the outer part of the radiative core. Inversions have been obtained for a medium-l mode set (involving modes of angular degree l extending to about 250) obtained from the first 144 day interval of SOI-MDI observations in 1996. Drawing inferences about the solar internal rotation from the splitting data is a subtle process. By applying more than one inversion technique to the data, we get some indication of what are the more robust and less robust features of our inversion solutions. Here we have used seven different inversion methods. To test the reliability and sensitivity of these methods, we have performed a set of controlled experiments utilizing artificial data. This gives us some confidence in the inferences we can draw from the real solar data. The inversions of SOI-MDI data have confirmed that the decrease of Ω with latitude seen at the surface extends with little radial variation through much of the convection zone, at the base of which is an adjustment layer, called the tachocline, leading to nearly uniform rotation deeper in the radiative interior. A prominent rotational shearing layer in which Ω increases just below the surface is discernible at low to mid latitudes. Using the new data, we have also been able to study the solar rotation closer to the poles than has been achieved in previous investigations. The data have revealed that the angular velocity is distinctly lower at high latitudes than the values previously extrapolated from measurements at lower latitudes based on surface Doppler observations and helioseismology. Furthermore, we have found some evidence near latitudes of 75° of a submerged polar jet which is rotating more rapidly than its immediate surroundings. Superposed on the relatively smooth latitudinal variation in Ω are alternating zonal bands of slightly faster and slower rotation, each extending some 10° to 15° in latitude. These relatively weak banded flows have been followed by inversion to a depth of about 5% of the solar radius and appear to coincide with the evolving pattern of torsional oscillations reported from earlier surface Doppler studies.

/pdf/helioseismic-studies-of-differential-rotation-in-the-solar-8e76s7lqt6.pdf

Helioseismic Studies of Differential Rotation in the Solar Envelope by the Solar Oscillations Investigation Using the Michelson Doppler Imager

We calculate accurate solar models and report the detailed time dependences of important solar quantities. We use helioseismology to constrain the luminosity evolution of the Sun and report the discovery of semiconvection in evolved solar models that include diffusion. In addition, we compare the computed sound speeds with the results of p-mode observations by BiSON, GOLF, GONG, LOWL, and MDI instruments. We contrast the neutrino predictions from a set of eight standard-like solar models and four deviant (or deficient) solar models with the results of solar neutrino experiments. For solar neutrino and helioseismological applications, we present present-epoch numerical tabulations of characteristics of the standard solar model as a function of solar radius, including the principal physical and composition variables, sound speeds, neutrino fluxes, and functions needed for calculating solar neutrino oscillations.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/321493/pdf

Solar Models: Current Epoch and Time Dependences, Neutrinos, and Helioseismological Properties

Alfven waves, transverse incompressible magnetic oscillations, have been proposed as a possible mechanism to heat the Sun's corona to millions of degrees by transporting convective energy from the photosphere into the diffuse corona. We report the detection of Alfven waves in intensity, line-of-sight velocity, and linear polarization images of the solar corona taken using the FeXIII 1074.7-nanometer coronal emission line with the Coronal Multi-Channel Polarimeter (CoMP) instrument at the National Solar Observatory, New Mexico. Ubiquitous upward propagating waves were seen, with phase speeds of 1 to 4 megameters per second and trajectories consistent with the direction of the magnetic field inferred from the linear polarization measurements. An estimate of the energy carried by the waves that we spatially resolved indicates that they are too weak to heat the solar corona; however, unresolved Alfven waves may carry sufficient energy.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/317/5842/1192.full.pdf

Alfven waves in the solar corona.

We show that inclined magnetic field lines at the boundaries of large-scale convective cells (supergranules) provide "portals" through which low-frequency ( 5 mHz) acoustic waves, which are believed to provide the dominant source of wave heating of the chromosphere. This result opens up the possibility that low-frequency magnetoacoustic waves provide a significant source of energy for balancing the radiative losses of the ambient solar chromosphere.

Magnetoacoustic Portals and the Basal Heating of the Solar Chromosphere

We have constructed an instrument optimized to observe solar oscillations of low degree. The primary goal of this instrument, which we call LOWL, is to measure the frequency splitting of the low-degree modes in order to determine the rotation rate of the solar core. The LOWL is a Doppler imager based on a magneto-optical filter. It employs a two-beam technique to simultaneously observe solar images in opposite wings of the absorption line of potassium at 769.9 nm. This instrument is very stable against drifts in the wavelength zero-point, is insensitive to noise sources due to intensity fluctuations and image motion, and has a Doppler analyzer with no moving parts. The LOWL has been deployed at HAO's observing station on Mauna Loa, Hawaii and will operate for a period of at least two years.

An instrument to observe low-degree solar oscillations

We determine the three-dimensional topography of the magnetic canopy in and around active regions by mapping the propagation behavior of high-frequency acoustic waves in the solar chromosphere.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/424996/pdf

Helioseismic Mapping of the Magnetic Canopy in the Solar Chromosphere

In this paper we describe a filter which utilizes magneto-optical effects for velocity fields measurements. The working principle of the instrument is described and its transmission profiles are given. Velocitygrams are shown of the five minutes oscillations (FMO) and the results compared with the expected (theoretical) signal from the instrument. We found a Vrms of 400 m s−1 for the FMO.

The Magneto-Optical Filter. II. Velocity Field Measurements

Transmission curves and theoretical calculi of the magneto-optical filter, designed and built by the authors, are shown together with some observed transmission spectra. At present the filter has a total halfwidth of ≈80mA; and the maximum transmission is 25%. From the analysis of the theoretical curves and from the observed spectra, we deduced the possibility of making up a filter with a very narrow passband (less than 30mA) and a very high transmission (up to nearly 100% apart from losses arising from the glass cell, lenses and polarizers).

Alessandro Cacciani

Papers

Magnetoacoustic Portals and the Basal Heating of the Solar Chromosphere

An instrument to observe low-degree solar oscillations

Helioseismic Mapping of the Magnetic Canopy in the Solar Chromosphere

The Magneto-Optical Filter. II. Velocity Field Measurements

The magneto-optical filter