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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News50 years of doctoral thesesThe Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the University of La Laguna (ULL) are organizing the scientific conference “Impulsing Astrophysics in Spain...
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PublicationA 2D Model for Coronal Bright Points: Association with Spicules, UV Bursts, Surges, and EUV Coronal JetsCoronal bright points (CBPs) are ubiquitous structures in the solar atmosphere composed of hot small-scale loops observed in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) or X-rays...
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PublicationA 3D sunspot model derived from an inversion of spectropolarimetric observations and its implications for the penumbral heatingAims:I deduced a 3D sunspot model that is in full agreement with spectropolarimetric observations, in order to address the question of a possible penumbral...
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PublicationA chromospheric dark-cored fibril in Ca II IR spectraWe investigate the thermodynamical and magnetic properties of a ``dark-cored" fibril seen in the chromospheric Ca II IR line at 854.2 nm to determine the...
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PublicationA chromospheric resonance cavity in a sunspot mapped with seismologySunspots are intense collections of magnetic fields that pierce through the Sun's photosphere, with their signatures extending upwards into the outermost...
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NewsA chromospheric resonance cavity in a sunspot mapped with seismologySunspots are intense collections of magnetic fields that pierce through the Sun’s photosphere, with their signatures extending upwards into the outermost...
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PublicationA comparative study of resistivity models for simulations of magnetic reconnection in the solar atmosphereContext. Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental mechanism in astrophysics. A common challenge in mimicking this process numerically in particular for the Sun is...
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PublicationA comparative study of resistivity models for simulations of magnetic reconnection in the solar atmosphere. II. Plasmoid formationContext. Plasmoid-mediated reconnection plays a fundamental role in different solar atmospheric phenomena. Numerical reproduction of this process is therefore...
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PublicationA deep look at the nuclear region of UGC 5101 through high angular resolution mid-IR data with GTC/CanariCamWe present an analysis of the nuclear infrared (IR, 1.6-18 μm) emission of the ultraluminous IR galaxy UGC 5101 to derive the properties of its active galactic...