V. Bommier

Solar magnetism eXplorer (SolmeX)

The magnetic field plays a pivotal role in many fields of Astrophysics. This is especially true for the physics of the solar atmosphere. Measuring the magnetic field in the upper solar atmosphere is crucial to understand the nature of the underlying physical processes that drive the violent dynamics of the solar corona—that can also affect life on Earth. SolmeX, a fully equipped solar space observatory for remote-sensing observations, will provide the first comprehensive measurements of the strength and direction of the magnetic field in the upper solar atmosphere. The mission consists of two spacecraft, one carrying the instruments, and another one in formation flight at a distance of about 200 m carrying the occulter to provide an artificial total solar eclipse. This will ensure high-quality coronagraphic observations above the solar limb. SolmeX integrates two spectro-polarimetric coronagraphs for off-limb observations, one in the EUV and one in the IR, and three instruments for observations on the disk. The latter comprises one imaging polarimeter in the EUV for coronal studies, a spectro-polarimeter in the EUV to investigate the low corona, and an imaging spectro-polarimeter in the UV for chromospheric studies. SOHO and other existing missions have investigated the emission of the upper atmosphere in detail (not considering polarization), and as this will be the case also for missions planned for the near future. Therefore it is timely that SolmeX provides the final piece of the observational quest by measuring the magnetic field in the upper atmosphere through polarimetric observations.

Hanle effect in the solar Ba II D2 line: a diagnostic tool for chromospheric weak magnetic fields

Context. The physics of the solar chromosphere depends in a crucial way on its magnetic structure. However there are presently very few direct magnetic field diagnostics available for this region. Aims. Here we investigate the diagnostic potential of the Hanle effect on the Ba ii D2 line resonance polarization for the determination of weak chromospheric turbulent magnetic fields. Methods. The line formation is described with a non-LTE polarized radiative transfer model taking into account partial frequency redistribution with an equivalent two-level atom approximation, in the presence of depolarizing collisions and the Hanle effect. We investigate the line sensitivity to temperature variations in the low chromosphere and to elastic collision with hydrogen atoms. We compare center-to-limb variations of the intensity and linear polarization profiles observed at THEMIS in 2007 to our numerical results. Results. We show that the line resonance polarization is very strongly affected by partial frequency redistribution effects both in the line central peak and in the wings. Complete frequency redistribution cannot reproduce the polarization observed in the line wings. The line is weakly sensitive to temperature differences between warm and cold components of the chromosphere. The effects of elastic collisions with hydrogen atoms and of alignment transfer due to multi-level coupling with the metastable 2 D5/2 levels have been studied in a recent paper showing that they depolarize the 2 P3/2 level of the line. In the conditions where the line is formed we estimate the amount of depolarization due to this mechanism as a factor of 0.7 to 0.65. If we first neglect this effect and determine the turbulent magnetic field strength required to account for the observed line polarization, we obtain values between 20 G and 30 G. We show that this overestimates the magnetic strength by a factor between 1.7 and 2. Applying these correction factors to our previous estimates, we find that the turbulent magnetic field strength is between 10 G and 18 G. Conclusions. Because of its low sensitivity to temperature variations, the solar Ba ii D2 line appears as a very good candidate for the diagnosis of weak magnetic fields in the low chromosphere (z ≥ 900 km) by means of the Hanle effect.

Fast imaging spectroscopy with MSDP spectrometers. Vector magnetic maps with THEMIS/MSDP

Context. Multichannel subtractive double pass (MSDP) spectrometers produce 3D data cubes (x ,y , λ) simultaneously across several line profiles. They do not suffer from image convolution by any slit width, and synchronous observations across all wavelengths avoid differential seeing effects. They are very suitable for fast 2D spectroscopy. Aims. (1) We review specifications and capabilities of some existing MSDP spectrometers with respect to high-cadence observations. (2) THEMIS/MSDP is designed for the spectropolarimetry of strong lines. We propose new data reductions also suitable for the spectropolarimetry of photospheric lines. Methods. An off-line algorithm is described as a way to increase the spectral resolution. Taking the opportunity of 3D data, spatial interpolations are used around each solar point by only assuming that intensity gradients ∂I(x ,y , λ)/∂x are constant in the range (x ± � x ,λ ± � λ). The UNNOFIT inversion is used to compare vector magnetic maps deduced from THEMIS/MSDP and slitspectropolarimetry THEMIS/MTR data. Results. Both results are in good agreement. In active regions, the rms of the MSDP noise, calculated over 1 arcsec 2 ,i s less than 24 G for the LOS magnetic field and less than 52 G for Bx and 32 G for By. The MSDP scanning speed is 10 times the speed of slit-spectropolarimetry. Conclusions. THEMIS/MSDP can provide vector magnetic maps with typical temporal resolutions that are less than 1 min for small fields-of-view and 10 min for active regions. This allows addressing a number of fast events. In the future, MSDP instruments should efficiently complement single-slit spectroscopy and tunable filters. Their main capabilities should be the multiline aspect and the high temporal and spatial resolutions. New optical devices, such as image slicers, should substantially increase the signal-to-noise ratio. For polarimetric measurements, various compromises are possible between speed, spatial resolution, and SNR. A-posteriori image restorations, either using wide band proxies or bursts of multi-wavelength short exposures, should help improving signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution.

Vector magnetic field and vector current density in and around the δ-spot NOAA 10808

The context is that of the so-called “fundamental ambiguity” (also azimuth ambiguity, or 180° ambiguity) in magnetic field vector measurements: two field vectors symmetrical with respect to the line-of-sight have the same polarimetric signature, so that they cannot be discriminated. We propose a method to solve this ambiguity by applying the “simulated annealing” algorithm to the minimization of the field divergence, added to the longitudinal current absolute value, the line-of-sight derivative of the magnetic field being inferred by the interpretation of the Zeeman effect observed by spectropolarimetry in two lines formed at different depths. We find that the line pair Fe I λ 6301.5 and Fe I λ 6302.5 is appropriate for this purpose. We treat the example case of the δ-spot of NOAA 10808 observed on 13 September 2005 between 14:25 and 15:25 UT with the THEMIS telescope. Besides the magnetic field resolved map, the electric current density vector map is also obtained. A strong horizontal current density flow is found surrounding each spot inside its penumbra, associated to a non-zero Lorentz force centripetal with respect to the spot center ( i.e. , oriented towards the spot center). The current wrapping direction is found to depend on the spot polarity: clockwise for the positive polarity, counterclockwise for the negative one. This analysis is made possible thanks to the UNNOFIT2 Milne-Eddington inversion code, where the usual theory is generalized to the case of a line (Fe I λ 6301.5) that is not a normal Zeeman triplet line (like Fe I λ 6302.5).

Inclusion of velocity gradients in the Unno solution for magnetic field diagnostic from spectropolarimetric data

We present an extension of the Unno-Rachkovsky solution that provides the theoretical profiles coming out of a Milne-Eddington atmosphere imbedded in a magnetic field, to the additional taking into account of a vertical velocity gradient. Thus, the theoretical profiles may display asymmetries as do the observed profiles, which facilitates the inversion based on the Unno-Rachkovsky theory, and leads to the additional determination of the vertical velocity gradient. We present UNNOFIT inversion on spectropolarimetric data performed on an active region of the Sun with the french-italian telescope THEMIS operated by CNRS and CNR on the island of Tenerife.