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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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...
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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...
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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)...
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PublicationNew ATLAS9 and MARCS Model Atmosphere Grids for the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE)We present a new grid of model photospheres for the SDSS-III/APOGEE survey of stellar populations of the Galaxy, calculated using the ATLAS9 and MARCS codes...
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NewsNew data about spiral waves detected in sunspotsAn international study, led by researchers at the IAC, reveal unknown details about the nature of a singular type of oscillatory phenomenon in spiral form...
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PublicationNew Light on an Old Problem of the Cores of Solar Resonance LinesWe reexamine a 50+ yr old problem of deep central reversals predicted for strong solar spectral lines, in contrast to the smaller reversals seen in observations...
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PublicationNewly formed downflow lanes in exploding granules in the solar photosphereContext. Exploding granules have drawn renewed interest because of their interaction with the magnetic field (either emerging or already present). Especially...
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PublicationNo unique solution to the seismological problem of standing kink magnetohydrodynamic wavesThe aim of this paper is to point out that the classic seismological problem using observations and theoretical expressions for the periods and damping times of...
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PublicationNon-coherent Continuum Scattering as a Line Polarization MechanismLine scattering polarization can be strongly affected by Rayleigh scattering at neutral hydrogen and Thomson scattering at free electrons. Often a...