The observations of solar photosphere from the ground encounter significant problems due to the presence of Earth's turbulent atmosphere. Prior to applying image reconstruction techniques, the frames obtained in most favorable atmospheric conditions (so-called lucky frames) have to be carefully selected. However, the estimation of the quality of images containing complex photospheric structures is not a trivial task and the standard routines applied in night-time Lucky Imaging observations are not applicable. In this paper we evaluate 36 methods dedicated for the assessment of image quality which were presented in the rich literature over last 40 years. We compare their effectiveness on simulated solar observations of both active regions and granulation patches, using reference data obtained by the Solar Optical Telescope on the Hindoe satellite. To create the images affected by a known degree of atmospheric degradation, we employ the Random Wave Vector method which faithfully models all the seeing characteristics. The results provide useful information about the methods performance depending on the average seeing conditions expressed by the ratio of the telescope's aperture to the Fried parameter, $D/r_0$. The comparison identifies three methods for consideration by observers: Helmli and Scherer's Mean, Median Filter Gradient Similarity, and Discrete Cosine Transform Energy Ratio. While the first one requires less computational effort and can be used effectively virtually in any atmospherics conditions, the second one shows its superiority at good seeing ($D/r_0<4$). The last one should be considered mainly for the post-processing of strongly blurred images.
Low frequency imaging radio arrays such as MWA, LWA and LOFAR have been recently commissioned, and significantly more advanced and flexible arrays are planned for the near term. These powerful instruments offer new opportunities for direct solar imaging at high time and frequency resolution. They can also probe large volumes of the heliosphere simultaneously, by virtue of very large fields of view. They allow highly detailed, spatially resolved study of solar and heliospheric radio bursts, which are complemented by heliospheric propagation studies using both background astronomical radio emiss…
We investigate the coronal imaging capabilities of the Solar UltraViolet Imager (SUVI) on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series spacecraft. Nominally Sun-pointed, SUVI provides solar images in six Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) wavelengths. On-orbit data indicated that SUVI had sufficient dynamic range and sensitivity to image the corona to the largest heights above the Sun to date while simultaneously imaging the Sun. We undertook a campaign to investigate the existence of the EUV signal well beyond the nominal Sun-centered imaging area of the solar EUV imagers. We off-poi…
The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) will look at solar flares across the hard X-ray window provided by the Solar Orbiter cluster. Similarly to the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), STIX is a visibility-based imaging instrument, which will ask for Fourier-based image reconstruction methods. However, in this paper we show that, as for RHESSI, also for STIX count-based imaging is possible. Specifically, here we introduce and illustrate a mathematical model that mimics the STIX data formation process as a projection from the incoming photon flux into a…
ROSA: a high cadence, synchronized multi-camera solar imaging system
太阳大气层快速振荡（ROSA）是贝尔法斯特女王大学开发的同步，六相机高节奏太阳成像仪器。该系统可在美国新墨西哥州太阳黑子国家太阳观测站的邓恩太阳望远镜上作为普通用户仪器使用。由6个1 k x 1 k Peltier冷却的帧转移CCD相机组成，具有非常低的噪声（0.02-15 e/s/像素），每个ROSA相机能够超过30 Hz或200 Hz的全芯片读出速度时，CCD是窗口。结合多个相机和快速读出速率，ROSA每8小时观测将积累约12 TB的数据。在2008年8月成功调试之后，罗马尼亚航天局将能够以高时间分辨率对太阳大气进行多波长研究。
Imaging the low-frequency radio Sun is an intrinsically challenging problem. Meter-wavelength solar emission spans angular scales from a few arcminutes to a few degrees. These emissions show temporal and spectral variability on a sub-second and sub-MHz scales. The brightness temperature of these emissions also varies by many orders of magnitude, which requires high-dynamic-range spectroscopic snapshot imaging. With the unique array configuration of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), and the robust calibration and imaging pipeline, Automated Imaging Routine for the Compact Arrays for the Radi…
Context. The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is one of 6 remote sensing instruments on-board Solar Orbiter. It provides hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy of solar flares by sampling the Fourier transform of the incoming flux. Aims. To show that the visibility amplitude and phase calibration of 24 out of 30 STIX sub-collimators is well advanced and that a set of imaging methods is able to provide the first hard X-ray images of the flaring Sun from Solar Orbiter. Methods. We applied four visibility-based image reconstruction methods and a count-based one to calibrated STIX observa…
The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) is an instrument onboard the Aditya-L1 mission of ISRO that will measure and monitor the solar radiation emitted in the near-ultraviolet wavelength range (200-400 nm). SUIT will simultaneously map the photosphere and the chromosphere of the Sun using 11 filters sensitive to different wavelengths and covering different heights in the solar atmosphere and help us understand the processes involved in the transfer of mass and energy from one layer to the other. SUIT will also allow us to measure and monitor spatially resolved solar spectral irradiance…
As a dedicated solar radio interferometer, the MingantU SpEctral RadioHeliograph (MUSER) generates massive observational data in the frequency range of 400 MHz -- 15 GHz. High-performance imaging forms a significantly important aspect of MUSER's massive data processing requirements. In this study, we implement a practical high-performance imaging pipeline for MUSER data processing. At first, the specifications of the MUSER are introduced and its imaging requirements are analyzed. Referring to the most commonly used radio astronomy software such as CASA and MIRIAD, we then implement a high-perf…
In high-resolution solar physics, the volume and complexity of photometric, spectroscopic, and polarimetric ground-based data significantly increased in the last decade reaching data acquisition rates of terabytes per hour. This is driven by the desire to capture fast processes on the Sun and by the necessity for short exposure times "freezing" the atmospheric seeing, thus enabling post-facto image restoration. Consequently, large-format and high-cadence detectors are nowadays used in solar observations to facilitate image restoration. Based on our experience during the "early science" phase w…
Imaging Spectropolarimeter for Multi-application Solar Telescope at Udaipur Solar Observatory: Characterization of polarimeter and preliminary observations
多用途太阳望远镜（Multi-Application Solar Telescope，MAST）是一台离轴50厘米的格里高利望远镜，最近在乌代布尔太阳天文台（Udaipur Solar Observatory，USO）开始运行。为了了解太阳磁场和速度场的演变和动态，正在研制一种成像分光偏振计，作为多天线空间望远镜的后端仪器之一。该系统由窄带滤光片和偏振计组成。偏振计包括一个线性偏振器和两组液晶可变延迟器（LCVR）。该仪器用于同时观测617.3 nm和854.2 nm的谱线，这两条谱线分别形成于光球层和色球层。在本文中，我们提出的结果，从表征的LCVR的谱线的利益和响应矩阵的偏振计。我们还提出了初步的观察使用分光偏振仪获得的活动区域。为了验证，我们比较了Stokes观测的活动区太阳动力学天文台（SDO）上的日震磁成像仪（HMI）和MAST观测的谱线617.3 nm。考虑到MAST观测的有限性，我们发现两个观测之间有很好的一致性。
We consider scattering of electromagnetic waves from a distant point source by the gravitational field of the sun, taking the field oblateness due to the quadrupole moment of the sun into account. Effects of the field oblateness can play an important role in the high resolution solar gravitational lens imaging in the sub-micrometer wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
In the last decade, imaging polarimeters based on micropolarizer arrays have been developed for use in terrestrial remote sensing and metrology applications. Micropolarizer-based sensors are dramatically smaller and more mechanically robust than other polarimeters with similar spectral response and snapshot capability. To determine the suitability of these new polarimeters for astronomical applications, we developed the RIT Polarization Imaging Camera to investigate the performance of these devices, with a special attention to the low signal-to-noise regime. We characterized the device perform…
We present a new solar radio imaging system implemented through the upgrade of the large single-dish telescopes of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), not originally conceived for solar observations. During the development and early science phase of the project (2018-2020), we obtained about 170 maps of the entire solar disk in the 18-26 GHz band, filling the observational gap in the field of solar imaging at these frequencies. These solar images have typical resolutions in the 0.7-2 arcmin range and a brightness temperature sensitivity <10 K. Accurate calibration adopting …
Capabilities of a 24 -channel slicer for imaging spectroscopy with the Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) on 8-meter class solar spectrographs
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process in many laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasma contexts. Solar flares serve as an outstanding laboratory to study the magnetic reconnection and the associated energy release and conversion processes under plasma conditions difficult to reproduce in the laboratory, and with considerable spatiotemporal details not possible elsewhere in astrophysics. Here we emphasize the unique power of remote-sensing observations of solar flares at radio wavelengths. In particular, we discuss the transformative technique of broadband radio dynamic ima…
We present an analysis of high-resolution imaging of an exoplanet by a meter-class telescope positioned at a real image of the exoplanet created by the solar gravity lens. We assume an exoplanet viewed in full phase and a simple deconvolution method to correct for the intrinsic blur caused by aberrations in the solar gravity lens, and account for the foreground light of the solar corona. We derive equations for the measurement times required for the telescope to produce such a high-resolution image, and find that due to shot noise considerations these times are large compared to human lifespan…
Unraveling the Secrets of the lower Solar Atmosphere: One year of Operation of the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) on board Aditya-L1
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics（大学间天文学与天体物理学中心）；Manipal Centre for Natural Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education（马尼拉高等教育学院自然科学中心）；Department of Physics, University College, Research Centre, University of Kerala（喀拉拉大学研究学院物理系）；Tezpur University（特佐普尔大学）；Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata（印度空间科学卓越中心，加尔各答印度科学与教育研究所）
The sudden release of magnetic energy on the Sun drives powerful solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The key issue is the difficulty in predicting the occurrence time and location of strong solar eruptions, i.e., those leading to the high impact space weather disturbances at the near-Earth environment. Solar radio imaging helps identify the magnetic field characteristics of active regions susceptible to intense flares and energetic coronal mass ejections. Mapping of the Sun at X-band (8.1 -- 9.3 GHz) with the 12-m radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory allows monitoring of the evoluti…
Count-based spectral component imaging (CCI) of solar flares in X-rays
Università di Genova（热那亚大学）；University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（瑞士西北应用科学艺术大学）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino（意大利国家天体物理研究所都灵天文台）
We discuss the optical properties of the solar gravitational lens (SGL). We estimate the power of the EM field received by an imaging telescope. Studying the behavior of the EM field at the photometric detector, we develop expressions that describe the received power from a point source as well as from an extended resolved source. We model the source as a disk with uniform surface brightness and study the contribution of blur to a particular image pixel. To describe this process, we develop expressions describing the power received from the directly imaged region of the exoplanet, from the res…
Multi-scale deconvolution is an ill-posed inverse problem in imaging, with applications ranging from microscopy, through medical imaging, to astronomical remote sensing. In the case of high-energy space telescopes, multi-scale deconvolution algorithms need to account for the peculiar property of native measurements, which are sparse samples of the Fourier transform of the incoming radiation. The present paper proposes a multi-scale version of CLEAN, which is the most popular iterative deconvolution method in Fourier space imaging. Using synthetic data generated according to a simulated but rea…
Thermal Diagnostics with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory: A Validated Method for Differential Emission Measure Inversions
A comprehensive spectroscopic reference of the solar system and its application to exoplanet direct imaging
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心）；Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA)（东南大学研究协会）；Centre for Planetary Habitability, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo（奥斯陆大学地球科学系行星宜居性中心）；American University（美国大学）；Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), NPP Program（橡树岭联合大学国家博士后培养项目）
The Micro Solar-Flare Apparatus (MiSolFA) is a compact X-ray imaging spectrometer designed for a small 6U micro-satellite. As a relatively inexpensive yet capable Earth-orbiting instrument, MiSolFA is designed to image the high-energy regions of solar flares from a different perspective than that of Solar Orbiter's STIX, operating from a highly elliptical heliocentric orbit. Two instruments working together in this way would provide a 3-dimensional view of X-ray emitting regions and can bypass the dynamic range limitation preventing simultaneous coronal and chromospheric imaging. Stereoscopic …
Inverse diffraction for the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly in the Solar Dynamics Observatory
Università di Genova（热那亚大学）；Catholic University of America（美国天主教大学）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；Ecole Polytechnique（巴黎综合理工学院）；CNR - SPIN Genova（意大利国家研究委员会-SPIN热那亚）
Targeting dynamic spatially-extended phenomena in the upper solar atmosphere, a new instrument concept has been developed and tested at the Dunn Solar Telescope in New Mexico, USA, that provides wide-field, rapid-scanning, high-resolution imaging spectroscopy of the neutral helium $\lambda10830$ spectral triplet. The instrument combines a narrowband imaging channel with a novel, co-spatial, 17 parallel-long-slit, grating-based spectrograph that are simultaneously imaged on a single HgCdTe detector. Over a $170'' \times 120''$ field of view, a temporal cadence of 8.5 seconds is achieved between…
We study the nature of energy release and transfer for two sub-A class solar microflares observed during the second flight of the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI-2) sounding rocket experiment on 2014 December 11. FOXSI is the first solar-dedicated instrument to utilize focusing optics to image the Sun in the hard X-ray (HXR) regime, sensitive to the energy range 4-20 keV. Through spectral analysis of the two microflares using an optically thin isothermal plasma model, we find evidence for plasma heated to temperatures of ~10 MK and emissions measures down to ~$10^{44}~$cm$^{-3}$. Tho…
We consider the optical properties of the solar gravitational lens (SGL) treating the Sun as a massive compact body. Using our previously developed wave-optical treatment of the SGL, we convolve it with a thin-lens representing an optical telescope, and estimate the power spectral density and associated photon flux at individual pixel locations on the image sensor at the focal plane of the telescope. We also consider the solar corona, which is the dominant noise source when imaging faint objects with the SGL. We evaluate the signal-to-noise ratio at individual pixels as a function of wavelengt…
We discuss the feasibility of direct multipixel imaging of exoplanets with the solar gravitational lens (SGL) in the context of a realistic deep space mission. For this, we consider an optical telescope, placed in the image plane that forms in the strong interference region of the SGL. We consider an Earth-like exoplanet located in our immediate stellar neighborhood and model its characteristics using our own Earth. We estimate photon fluxes from such a compact, extended, resolved exoplanet. This light appears in the form of an Einstein ring around the Sun, seen through the solar corona. The s…
Institute of Networked and Embedded Systems（网络化与嵌入式系统研究所）；Lakeside Labs（湖畔实验室）
Amongst all the renewable energy resources (RES), solar is the most popular form of energy source and is of particular interest for its widely integration into the power grid. However, due to the intermittent nature of solar source, it is of the greatest significance to forecast solar irradiance to ensure uninterrupted and reliable power supply to serve the energy demand. There are several approaches to perform solar irradiance forecasting, for instance satellite-based methods, sky image-based methods, machine learning-based methods, and numerical weather prediction-based methods. In this pape…
We investigate the optical properties of the solar gravitational lens (SGL) with respect to an extended source located at a large but finite distance from the Sun. The static, spherically symmetric gravitational field of the Sun is modeled within the first post-Newtonian approximation of the general theory of relativity. We consider the propagation of monochromatic electromagnetic (EM) waves near the Sun. We develop, based on a Mie theory, a vector theory of diffraction that accounts for the refractive properties of the solar gravitational field. The finite distance to a point source can be ac…
The Solar Gravitational Lens (SGL) allows for major brightness amplification ($\sim 10^{11}$ at wavelength of $1~μ$m) and extreme angular resolution ($\sim10^{-10}$ arcsec) within a narrow field of view. A meter-class telescope, with a modest coronagraph to block solar light with 1e-6 suppression placed in the focal area of the SGL, can image an exoplanet at a distance of 30 parsec with few kilometer-scale resolution on its surface. Notably, spectroscopic broadband SNR is $\sim 10^{-6}$ in two weeks of integration time, providing this instrument with incredible remote sensing capabilities. A m…
Università degli Studi di Genova（热那亚大学）；CNR-SPIN（国家研究委员会SPIN研究所）
Space telescopes for solar hard X-ray imaging provide observations made of sampled Fourier components of the incoming photon flux. The aim of this study is to design an image reconstruction method relying on enhanced visibility interpolation in the Fourier domain. % methods heading (mandatory) The interpolation-based method is applied on synthetic visibilities generated by means of the simulation software implemented within the framework of the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) mission on board Solar Orbiter. An application to experimental visibilities observed by the Reuven Ram…
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Università di Genova（热那亚大学）；Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California（加州大学空间科学实验室）
