Although located at 150 million kilometers from Earth, the Sun is in our immediate neighborhood compared with all other stars. The observation of the Sun along the decades has provided amazingly detailed views of the structure and day-to-day life of a star; the high-resolution observations achieved from Earth and space in recent years, in particular, have facilitated reaching deep theoretical insights concerning the structure and evolution of stellar atmospheres and interiors.
The Sun constitutes a physics laboratory where the complex interactions between the matter (atoms, electrons and ions, or molecules) and the magnetic field can be studied in conditions difficult to reach in devices on Earth. Of particular interest for the public are the spectacular phenomena displayed by its atmosphere, its role in generating the magnetized clouds that, after traversing the interplanetary space, can impact on Earth's magnetosphere and lead to the potentially dangerous solar storms, and the mysteries of the solar interior. Understanding of all those phenomena is gained by a combination of refined theoretical methods and direct or indirect observation using leading-edge technologies.
The solar physics group at the IAC enjoys a leadership position in different branches of solar research in the world. This is exemplified by the award of four large research grants by the European Research Council in the past years to researchers of the group, by its leading role in the European Solar Telescope project, and by its participation in other international networks and instrument projects. Globally, the group combines theoretical methods (magneto-fluid dynamics and plasma physics, radiation transfer), including 3D numerical radiation-MHD modeling, and state-of-the-art observational and diagnostic techniques, to achieve deep understanding of what constitutes and drives the structure and activity of our star.
Solar Physics (FS)
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PublicationMagnetic field emergence in mesogranular-sized exploding granules observed with sunrise/IMaX dataWe report on magnetic field emergences covering significant areas of exploding granules. The balloon-borne mission Sunrise provided high spatial and temporal...
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PublicationMagnetic field fluctuations in the shocked umbral chromosphereContext. Umbral chromospheric observations show the presence of magnetoacoustic shocks. Several recent studies have reported magnetic field fluctuations...
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PublicationMagnetic Field Information in the Near-ultraviolet Fe II Lines of the CLASP2 Space ExperimentWe investigate theoretically the circular polarization signals induced by the Zeeman effect in the Fe II lines of the 279.3-280.7 nm spectral range of the...
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PublicationMagnetic field strength of active region filamentsAims: We study the vector magnetic field of a filament observed over a compact active region neutral line. Methods: Spectropolarimetric data acquired with TIP...
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PublicationMagnetic Fields beneath Active Region Coronal LoopsWe examine the hypothesis that multipolar magnetic fields advected by photospheric granules can contribute to heating the active chromosphere and corona. On...
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NewsMagnetic Fields in the Solar AtmosphereThe prestigious journal Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics invites two researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) to publish an...
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PublicationMagnetic flux emergence into the solar photosphere and chromosphereAims: We model the emergence of magnetized plasma across granular convection cells and the low atmosphere, including layers up to the mid-chromosphere. Methods...
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TalkMagnetic Flux, Heating, & Flaring: Clues from the Sun for Other Stars & SystemsOn the Sun, the presence of magnetic flux at the photosphere is closely linked to (1) steady heating of the overlying atmosphere and (2) transient brightenings...
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PublicationMagnetic 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...