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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PublicationThe Chromosphere Underneath a Coronal Bright PointCoronal bright points (CBPs) are sets of small-scale coronal loops, connecting opposite magnetic polarities, primarily characterized by their enhanced extreme...
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PublicationThe chromospheric component of coronal bright points. Coronal and chromospheric responses to magnetic-flux emergenceContext. We investigate the chromospheric counterpart of small-scale coronal loops constituting a coronal bright point (CBP) and its response to a photospheric...
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PublicationThe Chromospheric TelescopeAims: We introduce the Chromospheric Telescope (ChroTel) at the Observatorio del Teide in Izaña on Tenerife as a new multi-wavelength imaging telescope for full...
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PublicationThe Circular Polarization of the Mn 1 Resonance Lines around 280 nm for Exploring Chromospheric MagnetismWe study the circular polarization of the Mn I resonance lines at 279.56, 279.91, and 280.19 nm (hereafter, UV multiplet) by means of radiative transfer...
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NewsThe CLASP2 space experiment achieves an unprecedented map of the Sun’s magnetic field from the photosphere up to the base of the coronaEvery day space telescopes provide spectacular images of the solar activity. However, their instruments are blind to its main driver: the magnetic field in the...
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NewsThe CLASP2.1 mission team receives a NASA awardThe international team of the “Chromospheric LAyer Spectro-Polarimeter” (CLASP) space missions, which includes three scientists of the Instituto de Astrofísica...
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PublicationThe coupled tearing-thermal instability in coronal current sheets from the linear to the non-linear stageIn the solar corona, magnetically sheared structures are unstable to both tearing and thermal instabilities in a coupled fashion. However, how the choice of...
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NewsThe CSIC and the IAC take part in the creation of the Canary European Solar Telescope Foundation9 institutions from 7 European countries today signed the documents for this organization, which will prepare the way towards the future construction of the...
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PublicationThe dependence of the magnetism of a near-limb sunspot on heightContext. The physical parameters of the sunspot are not fully understood, especially the height dependence of the magnetic field. So far, it is also an open...