Observing the Sun with LOFAR: an overview of the telescope capabilities and the recent results from the PSP groud base support campaign.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Zucca
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Flow Speed ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Plasma Parameters

<p>Understanding and modelling the complex state of the Sun-solar wind-heliosphere system, requires a comprehensive set of multiwavelength observations. LOFAR has unique capabilities in the radio domain. Some examples of these include: a) the ability to take high-resolution solar dynamic spectra and radio images of the Sun; b) observing the scintillation (interplanetary scintillation - IPS) of distant, compact, astronomical radio sources to determine the density, velocity and turbulence structure of the solar wind; and c) the use of Faraday rotation as a tool to probe the interplanetary magnetic-field strength and direction. However, to better understand and predict how the Sun, its atmosphere, and more in general the Heliosphere works and impacts Earth, the combination of in-situ spacecraft measurements and ground-based remote-sensing observations of coronal and heliospheric plasma parameters is extremely useful. Ground-based observations can be used to infer a global picture of the inner heliosphere, providing the essential context into which in-situ measurements from spacecraft can be placed. Conversely, remote-sensing observations usually contain information from extended lines of sight, with some deconvolution and modelling necessary to build up a three-dimensional (3-D) picture. Precise spacecraft measurements, when calibrated, can provide ground truth to constrain these models. The PSP mission is observing the solar corona and near-Sun interplanetary space. It has a highly-elliptical orbit taking the spacecraft as close as nearly 36 sola radii from the Sun centre on its first perihelion passage, and subsequent passages ultimately reaching as close as 9.8 solar radii. Four instruments are on the spacecraft’s payload: FIELDS measuring the radio emission, electric and magnetic fields, Poynting flux, and plasma waves as well as the electron density and temperature; ISOIS measuring energetic electrons, protons, and heavy ions in the energy range 10 keV-100 MeV; SWEAP measuring the density, temperature, and flow speed of electrons, protons, and alphas in the solar wind; and finally, WISPR imaging coronal streamers, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), their associated shocks, and other solar wind structures in the corona and near-Sun interplanetary space, and provide context for the other three in-situ instruments. In this talk, the different observing modes of LOFAR and several results of the joint LOFAR/PSP campaign will be presented, including fine structures of radio bursts, localization and kinematics of propagating radio sources in the heliosphere, and the challenges and plans for future observing campaigns including PSP and Solar Orbiter.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Observations of interplanetary scintillation in China

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S294) ◽  
pp. 487-488
Author(s):  
Li-Jia Liu ◽  
Bo Peng
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Medium ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Solar Wind Speed ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Interplanetary Scintillation ◽  
The Earth

AbstractThe Sun affects the Earth in multiple ways. In particular, the material in interplanetary space comes from coronal expansion in the form of solar wind, which is the primary source of the interplanetary medium. Ground-based Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) observations are an important and effective method for measuring solar wind speed and the structures of small diameter radio sources. In this paper we will discuss the IPS observations in China.

The Science of Space Weather: From Bit Flips to Exoplanets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet G Luhmann
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar Activity ◽  
Space Weather ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Multiple Imaging

<p>While the term ‘space weather’ remains to some synonymous with operational anomalies on spacecraft, communications interruptions, and other practical matters, its broader implications extend across the EGU and beyond. Much of the science underlying space weather has to do with how our star, the Sun, affects the space environment at Earth’s orbit. We are lucky to be living at a time where information from both remote sensing (especially imaging at visible, x-ray and EUV wavelengths) and in-situ measurements (of plasmas, magnetic fields, and energetic particles) have provided unprecedented pictures of the Sun and knowledge of its extended atmosphere, the solar wind. Building on early forays into interplanetary space and deployments of coronagraphs with the Helios and SMM missions in the 70s and 80s, the Ulysses mission reconnaissance far above the ecliptic and the launch of Yohkoh’s and SOHO’s imagers in the 90s, and the long-term ‘monitoring’ of both the Sun and the conditions upstream of the Earth on SOHO, WIND and ACE, the STEREO mission opened a floodgate to research focused on solar activity and its heliospheric and terrestrial consequences. Physics-based, often semi-empirical 3D models increasingly came into widespread use for reconstructing and interpreting the multiple imaging perspectives and multipoint in-situ measurements that the twin STEREO spacecraft, combined with Earth-viewpoint assets (including the GONG ground-based network, and as of 2010, SDO magnetographs), provided on a regular basis. These observations and models together transformed perceptions of phenomena ranging from coronal structure to solar wind sources to eruptive phenomena and consequences, and the tools used to study and forecast them. Now Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter are probing details of the still unexplored regions closer to the Sun than Mercury’s orbit, with the goal of completing that part of the solar/solar wind connection puzzle. And the overall science results from these observations and analysis efforts have not been confined to heliophysics, having especially influenced planetary science and astrophysics. They are seen in recreations of long-past scenarios when our Sun and solar system were evolving, in investigations of solar activity impacts including auroral emissions at the planets,  and in applications to distant planetary systems around other ‘Suns’. That these lofty implications are related to the bit flips and static ‘noise’ first identified with ‘space weather’, provides one of the interesting connections, and still ongoing journeys/stories, within EGU’s research universe.</p>

scholarly journals A review of the SCOSTEP’s 5-year scientific program VarSITI—Variability of the Sun and Its Terrestrial Impact

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Shiokawa ◽  
Katya Georgieva
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Scientific Program ◽  
Solar Cycles ◽  
Grand Minimum ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Earth Connection ◽  
Near Future

AbstractThe Sun is a variable active-dynamo star, emitting radiation in all wavelengths and solar-wind plasma to the interplanetary space. The Earth is immersed in this radiation and solar wind, showing various responses in geospace and atmosphere. This Sun–Earth connection variates in time scales from milli-seconds to millennia and beyond. The solar activity, which has a ~11-year periodicity, is gradually declining in recent three solar cycles, suggesting a possibility of a grand minimum in near future. VarSITI—variability of the Sun and its terrestrial impact—was the 5-year program of the scientific committee on solar-terrestrial physics (SCOSTEP) in 2014–2018, focusing on this variability of the Sun and its consequences on the Earth. This paper reviews some background of SCOSTEP and its past programs, achievements of the 5-year VarSITI program, and remaining outstanding questions after VarSITI.

scholarly journals Solar cycle changes of large-scale solar wind structure

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S264) ◽  
pp. 356-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Manoharan
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Wind Structure ◽  
Level Of Activity ◽  
Solar Wind Structure ◽  
Current Minimum ◽  
Inner Heliosphere

AbstractIn this paper, I present the results on large-scale evolution of density turbulence of solar wind in the inner heliosphere during 1985–2009. At a given distance from the Sun, the density turbulence is maximum around the maximum phase of the solar cycle and it reduces to ~70%, near the minimum phase. However, in the current minimum of solar activity, the level of turbulence has gradually decreased, starting from the year 2005, to the present level of ~30%. These results suggest that the source of solar wind changes globally, with the important implication that the supply of mass and energy from the Sun to the interplanetary space has significantly reduced in the present low level of activity.

scholarly journals The role of aerodynamic drag in dynamics of coronal mass ejections

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S257) ◽  
pp. 271-277
Author(s):  
Bojan Vršnak ◽  
Dijana Vrbanec ◽  
Jaša Čalogović ◽  
Tomislav Žic
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Coronal Mass Ejections ◽  
Weather Forecasting ◽  
Aerodynamic Drag ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Solar Wind Speed ◽  
Standard Form ◽  
The Sun

AbstractDynamics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is strongly affected by the interaction of the erupting structure with the ambient magnetoplasma: eruptions that are faster than solar wind transfer the momentum and energy to the wind and generally decelerate, whereas slower ones gain the momentum and accelerate. Such a behavior can be expressed in terms of “aerodynamic” drag. We employ a large sample of CMEs to analyze the relationship between kinematics of CMEs and drag-related parameters, such as ambient solar wind speed and the CME mass. Employing coronagraphic observations it is demonstrated that massive CMEs are less affected by the aerodynamic drag than light ones. On the other hand, in situ measurements are used to inspect the role of the solar wind speed and it is shown that the Sun-Earth transit time is more closely related to the wind speed than to take-off speed of CMEs. These findings are interpreted by analyzing solutions of a simple equation of motion based on the standard form for the drag acceleration. The results show that most of the acceleration/deceleration of CMEs on their way through the interplanetary space takes place close to the Sun, where the ambient plasma density is still high. Implications for the space weather forecasting of CME arrival-times are discussed.

scholarly journals A Large Decametric Wavelength Antenna Array for IPS Observations of Radio Sources

1980 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 403-403
Author(s):  
Ch. V. Sastry
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Antenna Array ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Antenna System ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Interplanetary Scintillations

Most observations of interplanetary scintillations of radio sources are made at frequencies around 80 MHz. These observations are limited to regions close to the sun, where the scintillations are maximum at this frequency. It is possible to extend these observations to the weakly scattering regions beyond 1 A.U. by making measurements at low frequencies. We have built a low frequency antenna system at Gauribidanur, India (Lat. 13° 36′ N and Long. 5 hrs. 10 min.), which can be used for this purpose. Although this system will not be dedicated to IPS, we intend to use it exclusively for solar wind observations during periods of interest.

scholarly journals Solar wind and kinetic heliophysics

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1607-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckart Marsch
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Coronal Holes ◽  
Heavy Ion ◽  
Alfven Waves ◽  
Distribution Functions ◽  
Slow Solar Wind ◽  
Alfvén Waves ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Collisionless Dissipation

Abstract. This paper reviews recent aspects of solar wind physics and elucidates the role Alfvén waves play in solar wind acceleration and turbulence, which prevail in the low corona and inner heliosphere. Our understanding of the solar wind has made considerable progress based on remote sensing, in situ measurements, kinetic simulation and fluid modeling. Further insights are expected from such missions as the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter. The sources of the solar wind have been identified in the chromospheric network, transition region and corona of the Sun. Alfvén waves excited by reconnection in the network contribute to the driving of turbulence and plasma flows in funnels and coronal holes. The dynamic solar magnetic field causes solar wind variations over the solar cycle. Fast and slow solar wind streams, as well as transient coronal mass ejections, are generated by the Sun's magnetic activity. Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence originates at the Sun and evolves into interplanetary space. The major Alfvén waves and minor magnetosonic waves, with an admixture of pressure-balanced structures at various scales, constitute heliophysical turbulence. Its spectra evolve radially and develop anisotropies. Numerical simulations of turbulence spectra have reproduced key observational features. Collisionless dissipation of fluctuations remains a subject of intense research. Detailed measurements of particle velocity distributions have revealed non-Maxwellian electrons, strongly anisotropic protons and heavy ion beams. Besides macroscopic forces in the heliosphere, local wave–particle interactions shape the distribution functions. They can be described by the Boltzmann–Vlasov equation including collisions and waves. Kinetic simulations permit us to better understand the combined evolution of particles and waves in the heliosphere.

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