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)
-
PublicationMultiple Stokes I inversions for inferring magnetic fields in the spectral range around Cr I 5782 ÅAims: In this work, we explore the spectral window containing Fraunhofer lines formed in the solar photosphere, around the magnetically sensitive Cr I lines at...
-
PublicationMultiwavelength behaviour of the blazar OJ 248 from radio to γ-raysWe present an analysis of the multiwavelength behaviour of the blazar OJ 248 at z = 0.939 in the period 2006-2013. We use low-energy data (optical, near...
-
PublicationMuSICa: The Multi-Slit Image Slicer for the EST SpectrographIntegral field spectroscopy (IFS) is a technique that allows one to obtain the spectra of all the points of a bidimensional field of view simultaneously. It is...
-
PublicationNaked emergence of an anti-Hale active region. I. Overall evolution and magnetic propertiesAims: In order to understand the emergence of the active region, we investigate the emerging process and magnetic properties of a naked anti-Hale active region...
-
CapabilityNational and international relations in the field of large scientific facilities with other public and private entitiesOne of the missions of the IAC is to point out the value of the international nature of the center, by improving the relationships that are already underway...
-
PublicationNear optimal angular quadratures for polarised radiative transferIn three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer (RT) problems, the tensor product quadratures are generally not optimal in terms of the number of discrete ray...
-
PublicationNear-IR internetwork spectro-polarimetry at different heliocentric anglesAims:The analysis of near infrared spectropolarimetric data at the internetwork in different regions on the solar surface could offer constraints that reject...
-
PublicationNeural calibration of imaging Stokes polarimetersCurrent polarimetric calibration techniques derive the instrument modulation matrix by numerically fitting an instrumental model to measurements of a set of...
-
PublicationNeutral oxygen spectral line formation revisited with new collisional data: large departures from LTE at low metallicityAims: A detailed study is presented, including estimates of the impact on elemental abundance analysis, of the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE)...