Magnetic imaging of the outer solar atmosphere (MImOSA)

The magnetic activity of the Sun directly impacts the Earth and human life. Likewise, other stars will have an impact on the habitability of planets orbiting these host stars. Although the magnetic field at the surface of the Sun is reasonably well characterised by observations, the information on the magnetic field in the higher atmospheric layers is mainly indirect. This lack of information hampers our progress in understanding solar magnetic activity. Overcoming this limitation would allow us to address four paramount long-standing questions: (1) How does the magnetic field couple the different layers of the atmosphere, and how does it transport energy? (2) How does the magnetic field structure, drive and interact with the plasma in the chromosphere and upper atmosphere? (3) How does the magnetic field destabilise the outer solar atmosphere and thus affect the interplanetary environment? (4) How do magnetic processes accelerate particles to high energies? New ground-breaking observations are needed to address these science questions. We suggest a suite of three instruments that far exceed current capabilities in terms of spatial resolution, light-gathering power, and polarimetric performance: (a) A large-aperture UV-to-IR telescope of the 1-3 m class aimed mainly to measure the magnetic field in the chromosphere by combining high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. (b) An extreme-UV-to-IR coronagraph that is designed to measure the large-scale magnetic field in the corona with an aperture of about 40 cm. (c) An extreme-UV imaging polarimeter based on a 30 cm telescope that combines high throughput in the extreme UV with polarimetry to connect the magnetic measurements of the other two instruments. Placed in a near-Earth orbit, the data downlink would be maximised, while a location at L4 or L5 would provide stereoscopic observations of the Sun in combination with Earth-based observatories. This mission to measure the magnetic field will finally unlock the driver of the dynamics in the outer solar atmosphere and thereby will greatly advance our understanding of the Sun and the heliosphere.

Mechanism of Sunlight Damage on Drip Tape by Pendant Droplets in Mulched Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation under mulch has been applied in China for nearly 20 years, but sunlight damage from the lens effect through droplets beneath clear plastic mulch is always a problem that cannot be ignored. Droplet volume and mulch wettability affect the geometric parameters of the pendant droplets. Changes in geometric parameters were experimentally investigated by analyzing side-view images of droplets. Models were built to predict droplet focal length and light-gathering power based on the geometric parameters. A comparison between numerical and optical experimental results suggested that the focal length model was accurate and reliable. The effective incident area of the parallel light proposed in this study could also be used to represent the light-gathering power, which had a relationship with the drip tape burning rate. The increase in wettability of the clear mulch considerably increased the focal length of the pendant droplets, expanded the focal length range, enhanced the light-gathering power, and thus increased the risk of drip tape burning. In practice, pendant droplets with a wetting radius of 3 to 5 mm, with corresponding focal lengths of 5 to 12 mm, have a high probability of emergence. Therefore, the distance between the mulch and drip tape should be beyond this focal length range to reduce the risk of drip tape burning by pendant droplets. In addition, filming the mulch surface with hydrophobic materials to increase the contact angles of droplets can also protect the drip tape from sunlight damage. Keywords: Drip irrigation under mulch, Drip tape burning, Effective incident area of parallel light, Focal length, Pendant droplet.

6. A mirror held up to nature

‘A mirror held up to nature’ looks at some of today’s remarkable optical and infrared large telescopes, highlighting the technologies that made them possible and the science results that have revealed galaxies at vast distances and, closer to home, exoplanets. The quest for telescopes with ever greater light-gathering power never stops. The convergence of several diverse technologies has, in the last few decades, produced the Very Large Telescopes. Three new mirror technologies in the 1970s and 1980s—segmented, honeycomb, and meniscus types—allied with active control of mirror shape (active optics), the use of altazimuth mounts, and computing technology transformed telescope production and their abilities. Adaptive optics is also described.

Multilayer mirror systems to form hard X-ray beams

This paper is an overview of the research activities carried out in the past five years at the Institute for Physics of Microstructures RAS and “X-ray” Company towards the manufacture of multilayer mirror systems capable of forming X-ray beams in the subnanometer range of wavelengths. The systems fabrication technology is presented, including techniques for producing supersmooth surfaces of specified shape, methods of graded multilayer structure deposition on such surfaces, and the principles of designing optimal mirror parameters. The characteristics of a quadrelliptical reflector—a novel high light-gathering power four-corner focusing system—are reported.

Merging Data from Large and Small Telescopes – Good or Bad? And: How Useful is the Application of Statistical Weights to Time-Series Photometric Measurements?

I have investigated the value of the contribution of small telescopes to the success of a whole WET run. To this end, I have applied different data weighting schemes to two extreme WET test data sets. I find that weights proportional to the inverse local scatter in the light curves produce Fourier Transforms of best signal-to-noise. Weighting data stronger than their inverse scatter does not yield optimal results because of the reduction of the effective number of data points.The contribution of the small telescopes to the combined WET results was found to be very important. They do not only improve the spectral window, but they can reduce the noise in the total FT by more than their light gathering power would imply. Some suggestions for the optimal use of small telescopes in the WET are given.

Wide-Field-Imaging 3-Mirror-Systems by High Light Gathering Power and a Wide-Field Optical System for the ‘Large Imaging Telescope’ (Lite)

The desire of astronomers for wide field telescope systems which surpass the RCC (1:8 max. 1.5 degree) in light gathering power and field of view are relative concrete today. For this type of telescope, detectors planned ARE CCDs in multichip arrangement.