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Bruce W. Lites

Bio: Bruce W. Lites is an academic researcher from National Center for Atmospheric Research. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sunspot & Photosphere. The author has an hindex of 74, co-authored 262 publications receiving 19051 citations. Previous affiliations of Bruce W. Lites include Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy & University of Colorado Boulder.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The solar optical telescope (SOT) as discussed by the authors is a 50-cm diffraction-limited Gregorian telescope with the Stokes Spectro-Polarimeter (SP) attached to it.
Abstract: The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite (formerly called Solar-B) consists of the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and the Focal Plane Package (FPP). The OTA is a 50-cm diffraction-limited Gregorian telescope, and the FPP includes the narrowband filtergraph (NFI) and the broadband filtergraph (BFI), plus the Stokes Spectro-Polarimeter (SP). The SOT provides unprecedented high-resolution photometric and vector magnetic images of the photosphere and chromosphere with a very stable point spread function and is equipped with an image-stabilization system with performance better than 0.01 arcsec rms. Together with the other two instruments on Hinode (the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS)), the SOT is poised to address many fundamental questions about solar magnetohydrodynamics. This paper provides an overview; the details of the instrument are presented in a series of companion papers.

1,448 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) as mentioned in this paper provides simultaneous spectra and images of the photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona with 0.33 arcsec and up.
Abstract: 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.

1,238 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) as mentioned in this paper is a small explorer spacecraft that 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.
Abstract: 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.

1,034 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that magnetic fields are organized on mesogranular scales, with both horizontal and vertical fields showing voids of reduced flux density of a few granules spatial extent.
Abstract: Observations of very quiet Sun using the Solar Optical Telescope/Spectro-Polarimeter (SOT/SP) aboard the Hinode spacecraft reveal that the quiet internetwork regions are pervaded by horizontal magnetic flux. The spatial average horizontal apparent flux density derived from wavelength-integrated measures of Zeeman-induced linear polarization is -->BTapp = 55 Mx cm −2, as compared to the corresponding average vertical apparent flux density of -->| BLapp| = 11 Mx cm −2. Distributions of apparent flux density are presented. Magnetic fields are organized on mesogranular scales, with both horizontal and vertical fields showing voids of reduced flux density of a few granules spatial extent. The vertical fields are concentrated in the intergranular lanes, whereas the stronger horizontal fields are somewhat separated spatially from the vertical fields and occur most commonly at the edges of the bright granules. High-S/N observations from disk center to the limb help to constrain possible causes of the apparent imbalance between -->| BLapp| and -->BTapp, with unresolved structures of linear dimension on the surface smaller by at least a factor of 2 relative to the SOT/SP angular resolution being one likely cause of this discrepancy. Other scenarios for explaining this imbalance are discussed. The horizontal fields are likely the source of the seething fields of the quiet Sun discovered by Harvey et al. The horizontal fields may also contribute to the hidden turbulent flux suggested by studies involving Hanle effect depolarization of scattered radiation.

475 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
07 Dec 2007-Science
TL;DR: Hinode observations of chromospheric anemone jets suggest that magnetic reconnection similar to that in the corona is occurring at a much smaller spatial scale throughout the chromosphere, and suggest that the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona may be related to small-scale ubiquitous reconnection.
Abstract: The heating of the solar chromosphere and corona is a long-standing puzzle in solar physics. Hinode observations show the ubiquitous presence of chromospheric anemone jets outside sunspots in active regions. They are typically 3 to 7 arc seconds = 2000 to 5000 kilometers long and 0.2 to 0.4 arc second = 150 to 300 kilometers wide, and their velocity is 10 to 20 kilometers per second. These small jets have an inverted Y-shape, similar to the shape of x-ray anemone jets in the corona. These features imply that magnetic reconnection similar to that in the corona is occurring at a much smaller spatial scale throughout the chromosphere and suggest that the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona may be related to small-scale ubiquitous reconnection.

467 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument and investigation as a part of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is designed to study convection-zone dynamics and the solar dynamo, the origin and evolution of sunspots, active regions, and complexes of activity, the sources and drivers of solar magnetic activity and disturbances as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument and investigation as a part of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is designed to study convection-zone dynamics and the solar dynamo, the origin and evolution of sunspots, active regions, and complexes of activity, the sources and drivers of solar magnetic activity and disturbances, links between the internal processes and dynamics of the corona and heliosphere, and precursors of solar disturbances for space-weather forecasts. A brief overview of the instrument, investigation objectives, and standard data products is presented.

2,242 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) as discussed by the authors was designed to measure the Doppler shift, intensity, and vector magnetic field at the solar photosphere using the 6173 A FeI absorption line.
Abstract: The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) investigation (Solar Phys. doi: 10.1007/s11207-011-9834-2, 2011) will study the solar interior using helioseismic techniques as well as the magnetic field near the solar surface. The HMI instrument is part of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) that was launched on 11 February 2010. The instrument is designed to measure the Doppler shift, intensity, and vector magnetic field at the solar photosphere using the 6173 A Fe i absorption line. The instrument consists of a front-window filter, a telescope, a set of waveplates for polarimetry, an image-stabilization system, a blocking filter, a five-stage Lyot filter with one tunable element, two wide-field tunable Michelson interferometers, a pair of 40962 pixel cameras with independent shutters, and associated electronics. Each camera takes a full-disk image roughly every 3.75 seconds giving an overall cadence of 45 seconds for the Doppler, intensity, and line-of-sight magnetic-field measurements and a slower cadence for the full vector magnetic field. This article describes the design of the HMI instrument and provides an overview of the pre-launch calibration efforts. Overviews of the investigation, details of the calibrations, data handling, and the science analysis are provided in accompanying articles.

1,997 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The solar optical telescope (SOT) as discussed by the authors is a 50-cm diffraction-limited Gregorian telescope with the Stokes Spectro-Polarimeter (SP) attached to it.
Abstract: The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite (formerly called Solar-B) consists of the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and the Focal Plane Package (FPP). The OTA is a 50-cm diffraction-limited Gregorian telescope, and the FPP includes the narrowband filtergraph (NFI) and the broadband filtergraph (BFI), plus the Stokes Spectro-Polarimeter (SP). The SOT provides unprecedented high-resolution photometric and vector magnetic images of the photosphere and chromosphere with a very stable point spread function and is equipped with an image-stabilization system with performance better than 0.01 arcsec rms. Together with the other two instruments on Hinode (the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS)), the SOT is poised to address many fundamental questions about solar magnetohydrodynamics. This paper provides an overview; the details of the instrument are presented in a series of companion papers.

1,448 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) as mentioned in this paper provides simultaneous spectra and images of the photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona with 0.33 arcsec and up.
Abstract: 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.

1,238 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) as mentioned in this paper is a small explorer spacecraft that 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.
Abstract: 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.

1,034 citations