We present joint observations of the Sun by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). The observations were made of a solar active region on 2015 December 18 as part of the ALMA science verification effort. A map of the Sun's continuum emission of size $2.4' \times 2.3'$ was obtained by ALMA at a wavelength of 1.25 mm (239 GHz) using mosaicing techniques. A contemporaneous map of size $1.9'\times 2.9'$ was obtained in the Mg II h doublet line at 2803.5Å by IRIS. Both mm/submm$-λ$ continuum emission and ultraviolet (UV) line emission are believed to originate from the solar chromosphere and both have the potential to serve as powerful and complementary diagnostics of physical conditions in this poorly understood layer of the solar atmosphere. While a clear correlation between mm-$λ$ brightness temperature $T_B$ and the Mg II h line radiation temperature $T_{rad}$ is observed the slope is $<1$, perhaps as a result of the fact that these diagnostics are sensitive to different parts of the chromosphere and/or the Mg II h line source function includes a scattering component. There is a significant offset between the mean $T_B$(1.25 mm) and mean $T_{rad}$(Mg II), the former being $\approx 35\%$ greater than the latter. Partitioning the maps into "sunspot", "quiet regions", and "plage regions" we find that the slope of the scatter plots between the IRIS Mg II h line $T_{rad}$ and the ALMA brightness temperature $T_B$ is 0.4 (sunspot), 0.56 (quiet regions), and 0.66 (plage regions). We suggest that this change may be caused by the regional dependence of the formation heights of the IRIS and ALMA diagnostics, and/or the increased degree of coupling between the UV source function and the local gas temperature in the hotter, denser gas in plage regions.
In this work, we present a new methodology to fit the observed and synthetic spectrum of solar-like stars at millimeter, submillimeter and infrared wavelengths through semiempirical models of the solar chromosphere. We use the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm as a Non-Linear method, PakalMPI as the semiempirical model of the solar chromosphere, and recent observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of Alpha Centauri A as a test case. Our results show that we can use solar chromospheric semiempirical models as an input model to reproduce the observed spectrum of solar…
The Relation between the Radial Temperature Profile in the Chromosphere and the Solar Spectrum at Centimeter, Millimeter, Sub-millimeter, and Infrared Wavelengths
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 mm 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 significant…
We report the results of the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the solar chromosphere on the southern polar limb. Coordinated observations with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) are also conducted. ALMA provided unprecedented high spatial resolution in the millimeter band ($\approx$ 2.0 arcsec) at 100 GHz frequency with a moderate cadence (20 s). The results are as follows: (1) The ALMA 100 GHz images show saw-tooth patterns on the limb, and a comparison with SDO/AIA 171Å images shows a good correspondence of the limbs with each other. (2) The …
We investigate the upper chromosphere and the transition region of the sunspot umbra using the radio brightness temperature at 34 GHz (corresponding to 8.8-mm observations) as observed by the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH). Radio free-free emission in the longer millimeter range is generated around the transition region, and its brightness temperature yields the region's temperature and density distribution. We use the NoRH data at 34 GHz by applying the Steer-CLEAN image synthesis. These data and the analysis method enable us to investigate the chromospheric structures in the longer millimet…
Solar observations at sub-mm, mm and cm wavelengths offer a straightforward diagnostic of physical conditions in the solar atmosphere because they yield measurement of brightness temperature which, for optically thick features, equals intrinsic temperature - much unlike solar diagnostics in other spectral ranges. The Atacama Large Millimeter and sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) has therefore opened a new, hitherto underexplored, spectral window for studying the enigmatic solar chromosphere. In this review we discuss initial ALMA studies of the quiet chromosphere that used both single-dish and compa…
We present observational constraints on the solar chromospheric heating contribution from acoustic waves with frequencies between 5 and 50 mHz. We utilize observations from the Dunn Solar Telescope in New Mexico complemented with observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array collected on 2017 April 23. The properties of the power spectra of the various quantities are derived from the spectral lines of Ca II 854.2 nm, H I 656.3 nm, and the millimeter continuum at 1.25 mm and 3 mm. At the observed frequencies the diagnostics almost all show a power law behavior, whose particulars (slope, …
Solar observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) provide us with direct measurements of the brightness temperature in the solar chromosphere. We study the temperature distributions obtained with ALMA Band 6 (in four sub-bands at 1.21, 1.22, 1.29, and 1.3 mm) for various areas at, and in the vicinity of, a sunspot, comprising quasi-quiet and active regions with different amounts of underlying magnetic fields. We compare these temperatures with those obtained at near- and far-ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths (and with the line-core intensities of the optically-thin far…
Identification of the mechanisms responsible for heating the solar chromosphere and corona remains an outstanding problem, one of great relevance to late-type stars as well. There has been tremendous progress in the past decade, largely driven by new instruments, new observations, and sophisticated modeling efforts. Despite this progress, gaps remain. We briefly discuss the need for radio coverage of the 3D solar atmosphere and discuss the requirements.
Observations of the emission at radio, millimeter, sub-millimeter, and infrared wavelengths in the center of the solar disk validate the auto-consistence of semi-empirical models of the chromosphere. Theoretically, these models must reproduce the emission at the solar limb. In this work, we tested both the VALC and the C7 semi-empirical models by computing their emission spectrum in the frequency range from 2 GHz to 10 THz, at solar limb altitudes. We calculate the Sun's theoretical radii as well as their limb brightening. Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (NLTE) was computed for hydrogen, e…
We obtained ultraviolet and optical spectra for 9 M~dwarfs across a range of rotation periods to determine whether they showed stochastic intrinsic variability distinguishable from flares. The ultraviolet spectra were observed during the Far Ultraviolet M~Dwarf Evolution Survey \emph{Hubble~Space~Telescope} program using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The optical observations were taken from the Apache Point Observatory 3.5-meter telescope using the Dual Imaging Spectrograph and from the Gemini South Observatory using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph. We used the optical spectra…
Numerical simulations of the solar chromosphere predict a diverse thermal structure with both hot and cool regions. Observations of plage regions in particular feature broader and brighter chromospheric lines, which suggest that they are formed in hotter and denser conditions than in the quiet-Sun, but also implies a non-thermal component whose source is unclear. We revisit the problem of the stratification of temperature and microturbulence in plage now adding millimeter continuum observations provided by ALMA to inversions of near-ultraviolet IRIS spectra as a powerful new diagnostic to dise…
Aims. We use advanced 3D NLTE radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the solar atmosphere to carry out detailed tests of chromospheric diagnostics at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. Methods. We focused on the diagnostics of the thermal structure of the chromosphere in the wavelength bands from 0.4 mm up to 9.6 mm that can be accessed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) and investigated how these diagnostics are affected by the instrumental resolution. Results. We find that the formation height range of the millimeter radiation depends on the location in…
Semi-empirical models of the solar Chromosphere show in their emission spectrum, tomography property at millimeter, sub-millimeter, and infrared wavelengths for the center of the solar disk. In this work, we studied this property in the solar limb using our numerical code PakalMPI, focusing in the region where the solar atmosphere becomes optically thick. Individual contribution of Bremsstrahlung and H- opacities was take into account in the radiative transfer process. We found that the tomography property remains in all the spectrum region under study at limb altitudes. For frequencies be- tw…
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will be a valuable tool for observing the chromosphere of our Sun at (sub-)millimeter wavelengths at high spatial, temporal and spectral resolution and as such has great potential to address long-standing scientific questions in solar physics. In order to make the best use of this scientific opportunity, the Solar Simulations for the Atacama Large Millimeter Observatory Network has been initiated. A key goal of this international collaboration is to support the preparation and interpretation of future observations of the Sun with ALMA.
The solar chromosphere is heated to temperatures higher than predicted by radiative equilibrium. This excess heating is greater in active regions where the magnetic field is stronger. We aim to investigate the magnetic topology associated with an area of enhanced millimeter (mm) brightness temperatures in a solar active region mapped by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) using spectropolarimetric co-observations with the 1-m Swedish Solar Telescope (SST). We used Milne-Eddington inversions, nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) inversions, and a magnetohydrostatic e…
We present observations of the solar chromosphere obtained simultaneously with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). 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 consid…
Ultraviolet (UV) bursts and Ellerman bombs (EBs) are small-scale magnetic reconnection events taking place in the highly stratified, low solar atmosphere. It is still not clear whether UV bursts have to be generated at a higher atmospheric layer than EBs or whether both UV bursts and EBs can occur in the low chromosphere. We numerically studied the low $β$ magnetic reconnection process around the solar temperature minimum region (TMR). The time-dependent ionization degrees of hydrogen and helium are included in the MHD code, which lead to a more realistic magnetic diffusion caused by electron-…
The Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) has provided us with an excellent diagnostic tool for studies of the dynamics of the Solar chromosphere, albeit through a single receiver band at one time presently. Each ALMA band consists of four sub-bands that are comprised of several spectral channels. To date, however, the spectral domain has been neglected in favour of ensuring optimal imaging, so that time-series observations have been mostly limited to full-band data products, thereby limiting studies to a single chromospheric layer. Here, we report the first observations of a dy…
Acoustic wave heating is believed to contribute significantly to the missing energy input required to maintain the solar chromosphere in its observed state. We studied the propagation of waves above the acoustic cutoff in the upper photosphere into the chromosphere with ultraviolet and optical spectral observations interpreted through comparison with three dimensional radiative magnetohydrodynamic (rMHD) \emph{Bifrost} models to constrain the heating contribution from acoustic waves in the solar atmosphere. Sit-and-stare observations taken with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) …
Extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray emissions from stellar coronae drive mass loss from exoplanet atmospheres, and ultraviolet emission from stellar chromospheres drives photo-chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres. Comparisons of the spectral energy distributions of host stars are, therefore, essential for understanding the evolution and habitability of exoplanets. The large number of stars observed with the MUSCLES, Mega-MUSCLES, and other recent HST observing programs has provided for the first time a large sample (79 stars) of reconstructed Lyman-alpha fluxes that we compare with X-ray fluxes to ide…
3-minute oscillations in the chromosphere are attributed to both slow magnetoacoustic waves propagating from the photosphere, and to oscillations generated within the chromosphere itself at its natural frequency as a response to a disturbance. Here we present an investigation of the spatial and temporal behavior of the chromospheric 3-minute oscillations before, during, and after the SOL2011-02-15T01:56 X2.2 flare. Observations in ultraviolet emission centered on 1600 and 1700 Angstroms obtained at 24- second cadence from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory…
The brightness temperature of the radio free-free emission at millimeter range is an effective tool for characterizing the vertical structure of the solar chromosphere. In this paper, we report on the first single-dish observation of a sunspot at 85 and 115 GHz with sufficient spatial resolution for resolving the sunspot umbra using the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. We used radio attenuation material, i.e. a solar filter, to prevent the saturation of the receivers. Considering the contamination from the plage by the side-lobes, we found that the brightness temperature of the umbra should be lower t…
Enhanced continuum brightness is observed in many flares (''white light flares''), yet it is still unclear which processes contribute to the emission. To understand the transport of energy needed to account for this emission, we must first identify both the emission processes and the emission source regions. Possibilities include heating in the chromosphere causing optically thin or thick emission from free-bound transitions of Hydrogen, and heating of the photosphere causing enhanced H$^-$ continuum brightness. To investigate these possibilities, we combine observations from IRIS, SDO/HMI, an…
We present the first high-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of a sunspot at wavelengths of 1.3 mm and 3 mm, obtained during the solar ALMA Science Verification campaign in 2015, and compare them with the predictions of semi-empirical sunspot umbral/penumbral atmosphere models. For the first time millimeter observations of sunspots have resolved umbral/penumbral brightness structure at the chromospheric heights, where the emission at these wavelengths is formed. We find that the sunspot umbra exhibits a radically different appearance at 1.3 mm and 3 mm,…
By direct measurements of the gas temperature, the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) has yielded a new diagnostic tool to study the solar chromosphere. Here we present an overview of the brightness-temperature fluctuations from several high-quality and high-temporal-resolution (i.e., 1 and 2 sec cadence) time series of images obtained during the first two years of solar observations with ALMA, in Band 3 and Band 6, centred at around 3 mm (100 GHz) and 1.25 mm (239 GHz), respectively. The various datasets represent solar regions with different levels of magnetic flux. We perf…
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 gauss, strongly correlated with …
Ellerman bombs (EBs) and Ultraviolet (UV) bursts are common brightening phenomena which are usually generated in the low solar atmosphere of emerging flux regions. In this paper, we have investigated the emergence of an initial un-twisted magnetic flux rope based on three-dimensional (3D) magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The EB-like and UV burst-like activities successively appear in the U-shaped part of the undulating magnetic fields triggered by Parker Instability. The EB-like activity starts to appear earlier and lasts for about 80 seconds. Six minutes later, a much hotter UV burst-l…
We carry out a theoretical study of the polarization of the solar Mg II h-k doublet (including its extended wings) and the subordinate UV triplet around 280 nm. These lines are of great diagnostic interest, as they encode information on the physical properties of the solar atmosphere from the upper photosphere to the chromosphere-corona transition region. We base our study on radiative transfer calculations of spectral line polarization in one-dimensional models of quiet and plage regions of the solar atmosphere. Our calculations take into account the combined action of atomic polarization, qu…
Sunquakes (SQs) have been routinely observed in the solar photosphere, but it is only recently that signatures of these events have been detected in the chromosphere. We investigate whether signatures of SQs are common in Ultraviolet (UV) continua, which sample the solar plasma several hundred km above where SQs are typically detected. We analyse observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) 1600 Å and 1700 Å passbands, for SQ signatures induced by the flares of Solar Cycle 24. We base our analysis on the 62 SQs detected in the recent statistical stu…
Light bridges (LBs) are elongated structures with enhanced intensity embedded in sunspot umbra and pores. We studied the properties of a sample of 60 LBs observed with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). Using IRIS near- and far-ultraviolet spectra, we measured the line intensity, width, and Doppler shift; followed traces of LBs in the chromosphere and transition region (TR); and compared LB parameters with umbra and quiet Sun. There is a systematic emission enhancement in LBs compared to nearby umbra from the photosphere up to the TR. Light bridges are systematically displaced t…
High-resolution observations of the solar chromosphere at millimeter wavelengths are now possible with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), promising to tackle many open problems in solar physics. Observations from other ground and space-based telescopes will greatly benefit from coordinated endeavors with ALMA, yet the diagnostic potential of combined optical, ultraviolet and mm observations has remained mostly unassessed. In this paper we investigate whether mm-wavelengths could aid current inversion schemes to retrieve a more accurate representation of the temperature structure of the…
Three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of M-dwarf chromospheres
我们提出的第一个结果,从三维辐射磁流体动力学模拟的M-型矮星与CO 5 BOLD。局部模型包括对流层顶、光球层和色球层。结果示出了模型的有效温度为3240 K和重力加速度的log g = 4.5,这代表类似的AD狮子座。这些模型具有不同的初始磁场强度和场拓扑。第一代模型表明,M矮星的大气是高度动态和间歇性的。磁场和传播的冲击波产生了复杂的精细结构,这在Ca II K谱线核心的合成强度图中清晰可见,在毫米波长处也是如此。动态的小尺度模式不能用一维模式来描述,这对于半经验模式大气的构建以及对一般观测结果的解释具有重要意义。详细的三维数值模拟在这方面是有价值的。此外,这种模型有助于分析小尺度过程,这些过程在恒星上无法观察到,但对于理解M矮星大气及其活动可能是必不可少的。一个例子是所谓的“磁龙卷风”,最近在太阳上发现,并首次在M矮星模型中提出。
We present the first detection of solar flare emission at middle-ultraviolet wavelengths around 2000 A by the channel 2 of the Large-Yield RAdiometer (LYRA) onboard the PROBA2 mission. The flare (SOL20170906) was also observed in the channel 1 of LYRA centered at the H I Lyman-α line at 1216 A, showing a clear non-thermal profile in both channels. The flare radiation in channel 2 is consistent with the hydrogen Balmer continuum emission produced by an optically thin chromospheric slab heated up to 10000 K. Simultaneous observations in channels 1 and 2 allow the separation of the line emission …
Alfvenic waves are ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere and their dissipation may play an important role in atmospheric heating. In the partially ionized solar chromosphere, collisions between ions and neutrals are an efficient dissipative mechanism for Alfven waves with frequencies near the ion-neutral collision frequency. The collision frequency is proportional to the ion-neutral collision cross section for momentum transfer. Here, we investigate Alfven wave damping as a function of height in a simplified chromospheric model and compare the results for two sets of collision cross sections, nam…
We present an initial study of one of the first ALMA Band 3 observations of the Sun with the aim to characterise the diagnostic potential of brightness temperatures measured with ALMA on the Sun. The observation covers 48min at a cadence of 2s targeting a Quiet Sun region at disk-centre. Corresponding time series of brightness temperature maps are constructed with the first version of the Solar ALMA Pipeline (SoAP) and compared to simultaneous SDO observations. The angular resolution of the observations is set by the synthesized beam (1.4x2.1as). The ALMA maps exhibit network patches, internet…
The Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA), sited on the high desert plains of Chajnantor in Chile, has opened a new window onto solar physics in 2016 by providing continuum observations at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths with an angular resolution comparable to that available at optical (O), ultraviolet (UV), extreme ultraviolet (EUV), and X-ray wavelengths, and with superior time resolution. In the intervening years, progress has been made testing and commissioning new observing modes and capabilities, in developing data calibration strategies, and in data imaging and …
We first present spatially resolved ALMA and VLA continuum observations of the early-M red supergiant Antares to search for the presence of a chromosphere at radio wavelengths. We resolve the free-free emission of the Antares atmosphere at 11 unique wavelengths between 0.7 mm (ALMA band 8) and 10 cm (VLA S band). The projected angular diameter is found to continually increase with increasing wavelength, from a low of 50.7 mas at 0.7 mm up to a diameter of 431 mas at 10 cm, which corresponds to 1.35 and 11.6 times the photospheric angular diameter, respectively. All four ALMA measurements show …
Chromospheric Thermal Continuum Millimetre Emission from non-dusty K and M Red Giants
我们研究的热自由毫米通量预计从非尘埃和非脉动K通过中M巨星的基础上,我们有限的了解他们的不均匀色球。我们提出了一个半分析模型,提供了毫米波长的无线电通量的估计(例如,CARMA,ALMA,JVLA Q波段)的有效温度,角直径和色球Mg II h & k发射通量的基础上的知识。在250 GHz时,色球光学深度预计将显著小于1,这意味着毫米和亚毫米范围内的通量将具有来自色球材料的贡献,该色球材料产生紫外发射光谱,以及已知存在于光球层上方的冷分子材料。我们预测的下限推断的亮度温度的红巨星的基础上加热的基础上,如果上色球填充因子为1。多频毫米观测应提供重要的新信息的结构的不均匀色球,包括边界层,并允许测试竞争的理论模型大气加热。我们评论这些恒星毫米通量校准器的适用性。
Mapping the longitudinal magnetic field in the atmosphere of an active region plage from the inversion of the near-ultraviolet CLASP2.1 spectropolarimetric data
本研究利用 HanleRT 反演 CLASP2.1 近紫外 Mg II h & k 光谱偏振数据,绘制活动区谱斑与超半影的大气参数及纵向磁场,揭示二者加热机制的异同。
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a suborbital rocket experiment that on 3rd September 2015 measured the linear polarization produced by scattering processes in the hydrogen Ly-$α$ line of the solar disk radiation, whose line-center photons stem from the chromosphere-corona transition region (TR). These unprecedented spectropolarimetric observations revealed an interesting surprise, namely that there is practically no center-to-limb variation (CLV) in the $Q/I$ line-center signals. Using an analytical model, we first show that the geometrical complexity of the corrug…
Height Variations of Magnetoacoustic Cutoff Frequency in the Solar Atmosphere
VIT Bhopal University(维特博帕尔大学);University of Texas at Arlington(德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校);Institute of Physics, University of M. Curie-Skłodowska(玛丽亚·居里-斯克沃多夫斯卡大学物理研究所);Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(加那利群岛天体物理学研究所);Universidad de La Laguna(拉各拉纳大学)
We use state-of-the-art, three-dimensional non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the quiet solar atmosphere to carry out detailed tests of chromospheric magnetic field diagnostics from free-free radiation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths (mm/submm). The vertical component of the magnetic field was deduced from the mm/submm brightness spectra and the degree of circular polarization synthesized at millimeter frequencies. We used the frequency bands observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) as a convenient r…
The Solar Simulations for the Atacama Large Millimeter Observatory Network (SSALMON) was initiated in 2014 in connection with two ALMA development studies. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a powerful new tool, which can also observe the Sun at high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. The international SSALMONetwork aims at coordinating the further development of solar observing modes for ALMA and at promoting scientific opportunities for solar physics with particular focus on numerical simulations, which can provide important constraints for the observing mode…
We present spectroscopic and imaging observations of small-scale reconnection events on the Sun. Using the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) observations, one reconnection event is first detected as IRIS jets with fast bi-directional velocities in the chromosphere and transition region, which are identified as non-Gaussian broadenings with two extended wings in the line profiles of Si iv, C ii, and Mg ii k. The magnetograms under the IRIS jets from Helioseismic and Magnetic Images exhibit magnetic flux cancellation simultaneously, supporting that the IRIS jets are driven by magnetic…
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a new powerful tool for observing the Sun at high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. These capabilities can address a broad range of fundamental scientific questions in solar physics. The radiation observed by ALMA originates mostly from the chromosphere - a complex and dynamic region between the photosphere and corona, which plays a crucial role in the transport of energy and matter and, ultimately, the heating of the outer layers of the solar atmosphere. Based on first solar test observations, strategies for regular solar ca…
On 2011 June 7 debris from a large filament eruption fell back to the Sun causing bright ultraviolet (UV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) splashes across the surface. These impacts may give clues on the process of stellar accretion. The aim is to investigate how the impact emission is influenced by structures in the falling ejecta and at the solar surface. We determine the UV and EUV light curves of a sample of impacts. The ballistic impact velocity is estimated from the ejection and landing times and, where possible, compared with the velocity derived by tracking the downflows in SDO/AIA and ST…
The absolute brightness temperature of the Sun at millimeter wavelengths is an important diagnostic of the solar chromosphere. Because the Sun is so bright, measurement of this property usually involves the operation of telescopes under extreme conditions and requires a rigorous performance assessment of the telescope. In this study, we establish solar observation and calibration techniques at 2.6-mm wavelength for the Nobeyama 45-m telescope and derive the absolute solar brightness temperature accurately. We tune the superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receiver by inducing different…