Search Publications
The Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter
Kubo, M.; Lites, B. W.; Ichimoto, K. +16 more
The joint Japan/US/UK Hinode mission includes the first large-aperture visible-light solar telescope flown in space. One component of the Focal Plane Package of that telescope is a precision spectro-polarimeter designed to measure full Stokes spectra with the intent of using those spectra to infer the magnetic-field vector at high precision in the…
The SP_PREP Data Preparation Package for the Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter
Lites, B. W.; Ichimoto, K.
The Hinode/Spectro-Polarimeter (SP) is the first space-borne precision spectro-polarimeter for the study of solar phenomena. It is primarily intended for measuring the solar photospheric vector magnetic field at high spatial and spectral resolution. This objective requires that the data are calibrated and conditioned to a high degree of precision.…
On-Orbit Degradation of Solar Instruments
Schmutz, W.; Berghmans, D.; Auchère, F. +38 more
We present the lessons learned about the degradation observed in several space solar missions, based on contributions at the Workshop about On-Orbit Degradation of Solar and Space Weather Instruments that took place at the Solar Terrestrial Centre of Excellence (Royal Observatory of Belgium) in Brussels on 3 May 2012. The aim of this workshop was …
Measuring the Magnetic-Field Strength of the Quiet Solar Corona Using "EIT Waves"
Long, D. M.; Régnier, S.; Harra, L. K. +1 more
Variations in the propagation of globally propagating disturbances (commonly called "EIT waves") through the low solar corona offer a unique opportunity to probe the plasma parameters of the solar atmosphere. Here, high-cadence observations of two "EIT wave" events taken using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument onboard the Solar Dyn…
Solar Intranetwork Magnetic Elements: Flux Distributions
Wang, Jingxiu; Jin, Chunlan; Zhou, Guiping
The current study aims at quantifying the flux distributions of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic field based on the data taken in four quiet and two enhanced network areas with the Narrow-band Filter Imager of the Solar Optical Telescope on board the Hinode satellite. More than 14000 IN elements and 3000 NT elements were visually identified. They …
Properties of the 15 February 2011 Flare Seismic Sources
Green, L. M.; Zharkova, V. V.; Matthews, S. A. +1 more
The first near-side X-class flare of Solar Cycle 24 occurred in February 2011 (SOL2011-02-05T01:55) and produced a very strong seismic response in the photosphere. One sunquake was reported by Kosovichev (Astrophys. J. Lett.734, L15, 2011), followed by the discovery of a second sunquake by Zharkov, Green, Matthews et al. (Astrophys. J. Lett.741, L…
Signatures of Slow Solar Wind Streams from Active Regions in the Inner Corona
Berghmans, D.; Slemzin, V.; Harra, L. +3 more
The identification of solar-wind sources is an important question in solar physics. The existing solar-wind models (e.g., the Wang-Sheeley-Arge model) provide the approximate locations of the solar wind sources based on magnetic field extrapolations. It has been suggested recently that plasma outflows observed at the edges of active regions may be…
The 3D Geometry of Active Region Upflows Deduced from Their Limb-to-Limb Evolution
Mandrini, C. H.; van Driel-Gesztelyi, L.; Démoulin, P. +1 more
We analyze the evolution of coronal plasma upflows from the edges of AR 10978, which has the best limb-to-limb data coverage with Hinode's EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). We find that the observed evolution is largely due to the solar rotation progressively changing the viewpoint of nearly stationary flows. From the systematic changes in the upflo…
Multiscale Magnetic Underdense Regions on the Solar Surface: Granular and Mesogranular Scales
Giordano, S.; Berrilli, F.; Scardigli, S.
The Sun is a non-equilibrium, dissipative system subject to an energy flow that originates in its core. Convective overshooting motions create temperature and velocity structures that show a temporal and spatial multiscale evolution. As a result, photospheric structures are generally considered to be a direct manifestation of convective plasma mot…
Sun-as-a-Star Observation of Flares in Lyman α by the PROBA2/LYRA Radiometer
Kretzschmar, M.; Dammasch, I. E.; Dominique, M.
There are very few reports of flare signatures in the solar irradiance at H I Lyman α at 121.5 nm, i.e. the strongest line of the solar spectrum. The LYRA radiometer onboard PROBA2 has observed several flares for which unambiguous signatures have been found in its Lyman-α channel. Here we present a brief overview of these observations followed by …