Simulating Solar Cycles in Northern and Southern Hemispheres by Assimilating Magnetic Data into a Calibrated Flux-Transport Dynamo

We use the flux-transport dynamo prediction scheme introduced by Dikpati, de Toma, and Gilman (Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L05102, 2006) to make separate simulations and predictions of sunspot cycle peaks for northern and southern hemispheres. Despite the division of the data, the skill level achieved is only slightly lower than that achieved for the sum of both hemispheres. The model shows skill at simulating and predicting the difference in peaks between North and South, provided that difference is more than a few percent. The simulation and prediction skill is achieved without adjustment to any parameters of the model that were used when peaks for the sum of North and South sunspot areas was simulated. The results are also very insensitive to the averaging length applied to the input data, provided the simulations and predictions are for peaks defined by averaging the observations over at least 13 rotations. However, in its present form, the model is not capable of skillfully simulating or predicting short-time-scale features of individual solar cycles.     

Solar activity I: aspects of magnetic activity

It is now accepted that the solar activity has direct impact on the Earth climate, but is also responsible for the geomagnetic storms. It is thus fundamental to understand the mechanisms responsible for this activity. We present here first some aspects of the solar activity at the different atmospheric layers of the sun: active region at photospheric levels, filaments (prominences) and flares at chromospheric level and CME's at coronal level. A quick sum‐up of the principal characteristics of each is given as well as the key questions still under investigation. In the second part, two principal parameters are presented to describe these features: helicity and topology. Finally, we sum‐up the observational challenges for new solar telescopes.     

Magnetic Flux Imbalance of the Solar and Heliospheric Magnetic Fields

A comparative analysis of solar and heliospheric magnetic fields in terms of their cumulative sums reveals cyclic and long-term changes that appear as a magnetic flux imbalance and alternations of dominant magnetic polarities. The global magnetic flux imbalance of the Sun manifests itself in the solar mean magnetic field (SMMF) signal. The north – south asymmetry of solar activity and the quadrupole mode of the solar magnetic field contribute the most to the observed magnetic flux imbalance. The polarity asymmetry exhibits the Hale magnetic cycle in both the radial and azimuthal components of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Analysis of the cumulative sums of the IMF components clearly reveals cyclic changes in the IMF geometry. The accumulated deviations in the IMF spiral angle from its nominal value also demonstrate long-term changes resulting from a slow increase of the solar wind speed over 1965 – 2006. A predominance of the positive IMF B _z with a significant linear trend in its cumulative signal is interpreted as a manifestation of the relic magnetic field of the Sun. Long-term changes in the IMF B _z are revealed. They demonstrate decadal changes owing to the 11/22-year solar cycle. Long-duration time intervals with a dominant negative B _z component were found in temporal patterns of the cumulative sum of the IMF B _z .     

中国首颗综合性太阳探测卫星

作为中国首颗综合性太阳探测卫星的先进天基太阳天文台(Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory, ASO-S)于北京时间2022年10月9日7时43分在酒泉卫星发射中心成功发射. 扼要介绍ASO-S卫星提出的背景、卫星的研制历程、科学目标、载荷构成、任务总体以及卫星研制的组织架构, 并对卫星的运行和科学产出略作展望.     

The Magnetic Field of the Solar Corona from Pulsar Observations

We present a novel experiment with the capacity to independently measure both the electron density and the magnetic field of the solar corona. We achieve this through measurement of the excess Faraday rotation resulting from propagation of the polarised emission from a number of pulsars through the magnetic field of the solar corona. This method yields independent measures of the integrated electron density, via dispersion of the pulsed signal and the magnetic field, via the amount of Faraday rotation. In principle this allows the determination of the integrated magnetic field through the solar corona along many lines of sight without any assumptions regarding the electron density distribution. We present a detection of an increase in the rotation measure of the pulsar J1801-2304 of approximately 170 rad m² at an elongation of 0.96° from the centre of the solar disc. This corresponds to a lower limit of the magnetic field strength along this line of sight of >41.8 nT. The lack of precision in the integrated electron density measurement restricts this result to a limit, but application of coronal plasma models can further constrain this to approximately 0.5 μT, along a path passing 2.7 solar radii from the solar limb, which is consistent with predictions obtained using extensions to the source surface models published by the Wilcox Solar Observatory.     

Modelling the Global Solar Corona: Filament Chirality Observations and Surface Simulations

The hemispheric pattern of solar filaments is considered in the context of the global magnetic field of the solar corona. In recent work Mackay and van Ballegooijen have shown how, for a pair of interacting magnetic bipoles, the observed chirality pattern could be explained by the dominant range of bipole tilt angles and helicity in each hemisphere. This study aims to test this earlier result through a direct comparison between theory and observations, using newly developed simulations of the actual surface and 3D coronal magnetic fields over a 6-month period, on a global scale. We consider two key components: (1) observations of filament chirality for the sample of 255 filaments and (2) our new simulations of the large-scale surface magnetic field. Based on a flux-transport model, these will be used as the lower boundary condition for the future 3D coronal simulations. Our technique differs significantly from those of other authors, where the coronal field is either assumed to be purely potential or has to be reset back to potential every 27 days for the photospheric field to remain accurate. In our case we ensure accuracy by the insertion of newly emerging bipolar active regions, based on observed photospheric synoptic magnetograms. The large-scale surface field is shown to remain accurate over the 6-month period, without any resetting. This new technique will enable future simulations to consider the long-term buildup and transport of helicity and shear in the coronal magnetic field over many months or years.     

Relationship between Powerful Flares and Dynamic Evolution of the Magnetic Field at the Solar Surface

Powerful flares are closely related to the evolution of the complex magnetic field configuration at the solar surface. The strength of the magnetic field and speed of its evolution are two vital parameters in the study of the change of magnetic field in the solar atmosphere. We propose a dynamic and quantitative depiction of the changes in complexity of the active region: E=u×B, where u is the velocity of the footpoint motion of the magnetic field lines and B is the magnetic field. E represents the dynamic evolution of the velocity field and the magnetic field, shows the sweeping motions of magnetic footpoints, exhibits the buildup process of current, and relates to the changes in nonpotentiality of the active region in the photosphere. It is actually the induced electric field in the photosphere. It can be deduced observationally from velocities computed by the local correlation tracking (LCT) technique and vector magnetic fields derived from vector magnetograms. The relationship between E and ten X-class flares of four active regions (NOAA 10720, 10486, 9077, and 8100) has been studied. It is found that (1) the initial brightenings of flare kernels are roughly located near the inversion lines where the intensities of E are very high, (2) the daily averages of the mean densities of E and its normal component (E _n) decrease after flares for most cases we studied, whereas those of the tangential component of E (E _t) show no obvious regularities before and after flares, and (3) the daily averages of the mean densities of E _t are always higher than those of E _n, which cannot be naturally deduced by the daily averages of the mean densities of B _n and B _t.     

How to Reach Superequipartition Field Strengths in Solar Magnetic Flux Tubes

A number of independent arguments indicate that the toroidal flux system responsible for the sunspot cycle is stored at the base of the convection zone in the form of flux tubes with field strength close to 10⁵ G. Although the evidence for such strong fields is quite compelling, how such field strength can be reached is still a topic of debate. Flux expulsion by convection should lead to about the equipartition field strength, but the magnetic energy density of a 10⁵-G field is two orders of magnitude larger than the mean kinetic energy density of convective motions. Line stretching by differential rotation (i.e., the “Ω effect” in the classical mean-field dynamo approach) probably plays an important role, but arguments based on energy considerations show that it does not seem feasible that a 10⁵-G field can be produced in this way. An alternative scenario for the intensification of the toroidal flux system in the overshoot layer is related to the explosion of rising, buoyantly unstable magnetic flux tubes, which opens a complementary mechanism for magnetic-field intensification. A parallelism is pointed out with the mechanism of “convective collapse” for the intensification of photospheric magnetic flux tubes up to field strengths well above equipartition; both mechanisms, which are fundamentally thermal processes, are reviewed.     

Visualization of Distributed Solar Data and Metadata with the Solar Weather Browser

The Solar Weather Browser (SWB) is a standalone, open-source software tool designed to display solar images with context overlays. It was originally developed for the space-weather forecast activities of the Solar Influence Data analysis Center (SIDC) but it is more generally well suited to display the output of solar-feature recognition methods. The SWB is also useful in the context of distributed solar-image archives, where it could play the role of a quick-look viewer. The SWB allows the user to visually browse large solar data sets and investigate the solar activity for a given date. It has a client – server design that minimizes the bandwidth from the network to the user’s monitor. The server processes the data using the SolarSoft library and distributes them through a Web server to which the SWB client connects. The client is readily available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows at . We discuss the software technology embedded in the SWB as well as its use for solar physics and space weather.     

Resolving the Azimuthal Ambiguity in Vector Magnetogram Data with the Divergence-Free Condition: Theoretical Examination

We demonstrate that the azimuthal ambiguity that is present in solar vector magnetogram data can be resolved with line-of-sight and horizontal heliographic derivative information by using the divergence-free property of magnetic fields without additional assumptions. We discuss the specific derivative information that is sufficient to resolve the ambiguity away from disk centre, with particular emphasis on the line-of-sight derivative of the various components of the magnetic field. Conversely, we also show cases where ambiguity resolution fails because sufficient line-of-sight derivative information is not available. For example, knowledge of only the line-of-sight derivative of the line-of-sight component of the field is not sufficient to resolve the ambiguity away from disk centre.     

基于FPGA的空间太阳磁像仪自校正稳像系统研制

太阳磁像仪是开展太阳磁场观测研究的核心仪器,其中的稳像系统是空间太阳磁像仪的关键技术之一,针对深空探测卫星系统对载荷重量、尺寸限制严苛的要求,设计了基于图像自校正方法的稳像观测系统.介绍了一套基于现场可编程门阵列(Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA)和数字信号处理器(Digital Signal Processor, DSP),通过基于自相关算法的高精度稳像方法设计,并结合精确偏振调制、准确交替采样控制等系统软硬件设计,克服由于卫星平台抖动、指向误差等因素造成的图像模糊,实现实时相关、校正、深积分的稳像观测系统.针对像素尺寸为1 K×1 K、帧频为20 fps的CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor)探测器,实现了1像元以内的实时稳像观测精度.在完成实验室测试后, 2021年6月18日在国家天文台怀柔太阳观测基地35 cm太阳磁场望远镜上开展了实测验证,结果表明该系统能够有效地完成太阳磁像仪自校正稳像观测,获得了更高分辨率的太阳磁场数据.稳像系统的成功研制不仅可以为深空太阳磁像仪的研制提供轻量化、高...     

1998年9月23 日复杂太阳爆发射电联合观测的初步分析

利用北京天文台1998.09.23日1-2GHz和2.6-3.8GHz频谱仪观测到的一个Ⅲ-Ⅳ型复杂大爆发，结合俄罗斯SSRT和德国分米-米波动态频谱仪的观测资料，进行了初步的比对分析，拓展了关于日冕电子加速和日冕磁结构方面的一些研究内容，简单地注释了一些可研究的现象和运动Ⅳ型爆发及多重脉动的辐射机制。     

太阳磁场的观测

分析了太阳的观测磁图所涉及的磁场位形 ,以及磁场观测研究中的一些问题。     

用主成分分析法研究星团谱线的等值宽度

利用主成分分析法（Principal Component Analysis,PCA)，分析了41个银河系球状星团和22个年轻星团光学谱线的等值宽度，发现了一些对金属丰度比较敏感的特征谱线，如CN、CaⅡK、CaⅡH，MgⅠ MgH等，以及一些可作为年龄指标的谱线，如Hδ、Hγ、Hβ、Hα等，这些谱线将有助于区分星团年龄和金属丰度的耦合效应。     

Solar Magnetism and the Activity Telescope at HSOS

A new solar telescope system is described, which has been operating at Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS), National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), since the end of 2005. This instrument, the Solar Magnetism and Activity Telescope (SMAT), comprises two telescopes which respectively make measurements of full solar disk vector magnetic field and Hα observation. The core of the full solar disk video vector magnetograph is a birefringent filter with 0.1  bandpass, installed in the tele-centric optical system of the telescope. We present some preliminary observational results of the full solar disk vector magnetograms and Hα filtergrams obtained with this telescope system.     

Automatic Detection and Classification of Coronal Holes and Filaments Based on EUV and Magnetogram Observations of the Solar Disk

A new method for the automated detection of coronal holes and filaments on the solar disk is presented. The starting point is coronal images taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Telescope on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO/EIT) in the Fe ix/x 171 Å, Fe xii 195 Å, and He ii 304 Å extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lines and the corresponding full-disk magnetograms from the Michelson Doppler Imager (SOHO/MDI) from different phases of the solar cycle. The images are processed to enhance their contrast and to enable the automatic detection of the two candidate features, which are visually indistinguishable in these images. Comparisons are made with existing databases, such as the He i 10830 Å NSO/Kitt Peak coronal-hole maps and the Solar Feature Catalog (SFC) from the European Grid of Solar Observations (EGSO), to discriminate between the two features. By mapping the features onto the corresponding magnetograms, distinct magnetic signatures are then derived. Coronal holes are found to have a skewed distribution of magnetic-field intensities, with values often reaching 100?–?200 gauss, and a relative magnetic-flux imbalance. Filaments, in contrast, have a symmetric distribution of field intensity values around zero, have smaller magnetic-field intensity than coronal holes, and lie along a magnetic-field reversal line. The identification of candidate features from the processed images and the determination of their distinct magnetic signatures are then combined to achieve the automated detection of coronal holes and filaments from EUV images of the solar disk. Application of this technique to all three wavelengths does not yield identical results. Furthermore, the best agreement among all three wavelengths and NSO/Kitt Peak coronal-hole maps occurs during the declining phase of solar activity. The He ii data mostly fail to yield the location of filaments at solar minimum and provide only a subset at the declining phase or peak of the solar cycle. However, the Fe ix/x 171 Å and Fe xii 195 Å data yield a larger number of filaments than the Hα data of the SFC.     

Multiresolution Analysis of Active Region Magnetic Structure and its Correlation with the Mount Wilson Classification and Flaring Activity

Two different multiresolution analyses are used to decompose the structure of active-region magnetic flux into concentrations of different size scales. Lines separating these opposite polarity regions of flux at each size scale are found. These lines are used as a mask on a map of the magnetic field gradient to sample the local gradient between opposite polarity regions of given scale sizes. It is shown that the maximum, average, and standard deviation of the magnetic flux gradient for α,β,β γ, and β γ δ active-regions increase in the order listed, and that the order is maintained over all length scales. Since magnetic flux gradient is strongly linked to active-region activity, such as flares, this study demonstrates that, on average, the Mt. Wilson classification encodes the notion of activity over all length scales in the active-region, and not just those length scales at which the strongest flux gradients are found. Further, it is also shown that the average gradients in the field, and the average length-scale at which they occur, also increase in the same order. Finally, there are significant differences in the gradient distribution, between flaring and non-flaring active regions, which are maintained over all length scales. It is also shown that the average gradient content of active-regions that have large flares (GOES class “M” and above) is larger than that for active regions containing flares of all flare sizes; this difference is also maintained at all length scales. All of the reported results are independent of the multiresolution transform used. The implications for the Mt. Wilson classification of active-regions in relation to the multiresolution gradient content and flaring activity are discussed.     

Distribution of Helical Properties of Solar Magnetic Fields

We summarize studies of helical properties of solar magnetic fields such as current helicity and twist of magnetic fields in solar active regions (ARs), that are observational tracers of the alpha-effect in the solar convective zone (SCZ). Information on their spatial distribution is obtained by analysis of systematic mag-netographic observations of active regions taken at Huairou Solar Observing Station of National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The main property is that the tracers of the alpha-effect are antisymmetric about the solar equator. Identifying longitudinal migration of active regions with their individual rotation rates and taking into account the internal differential rotation law within the SCZ known from helioseismology, we deduce the distribution of the effect over depth. We have found evidence that the alpha-effect changes its value and sign near the bottom of the SCZ, and this is in accord with the theoretical studies and numerical simulations. We discuss     

Formation of Solar Delta Active Regions： Twist and Writhe of Magnetic Ropes

We analyze the process of formation of delta configuration in some well-known super active regions based on photospheric vector magnetogram observations. It is found that the magnetic field in the initial developing stage of some delta active regions shows a potential-like configuration in the solar atmosphere, the magnetic shear develops mainly near the magnetic neutral line with magnetic islands of opposite polarities, and the large-scale photospheric twisted field forming gradually later. Some results are obtained: (1) The analysis of magnetic writhe of whole active regions cannot be limited in the strong field of sunspots, because the contribution of the fraction of decayed magnetic field is non-negligible. (2) The magnetic model of kink magnetic ropes, supposed to be generated in the subatmosphere, is not consistent with the evolution of large-scale twisted photospheric transverse magnetic field and not entirely consistent with the relationship with magnetic shear in some delta active regions. (3) T