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Author name code: bando
ADS astronomy entries on 2022-09-14
author:"Bando, Takamasa"
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Title: Empirical relations between the intensities of Lyman lines
of H and He<SUP>+</SUP>
Authors: Gordino, M.; Auchère, F.; Vial, J. -C.; Bocchialini, K.;
Hassler, D. M.; Bando, T.; Ishikawa, R.; Kano, R.; Kobayashi, K.;
Narukage, N.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Winebarger, A.
2022A&A...657A..86G Altcode: 2022arXiv220101519G
Context. Empirical relations between major UV and extreme UV spectral
lines are one of the inputs for models of chromospheric and coronal
spectral radiances and irradiances. They are also needed for the
interpretation of some of the observations of the Solar Orbiter
mission. <BR /> Aims: We aim to determine an empirical relation between
the intensities of the H I 121.6 nm and He II 30.4 nm Ly-α lines. <BR
/> Methods: Images at 121.6 nm from the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
Spectro Polarimeter (CLASP) and Multiple XUV Imager (MXUVI) sounding
rockets were co-registered with simultaneous images at 30.4 nm from the
EIT and AIA orbital telescopes in order to derive a spatially resolved
relationship between the intensities. <BR /> Results: We have obtained
a relationship between the H I 121.6 nm and He II 30.4 nm intensities
that is valid for a wide range of solar features, intensities, and
activity levels. Additional SUMER data have allowed the derivation of
another relation between the H I 102.5 nm (Ly-β) and He II 30.4 nm
lines for quiet-Sun regions. We combined these two relationships to
obtain a Ly-α/Ly-β intensity ratio that is comparable to the few
previously published results. <BR /> Conclusions: The relationship
between the H I 121.6 nm and He II 30.4 nm lines is consistent with the
one previously obtained using irradiance data. We have also observed
that this relation is stable in time but that its accuracy depends on
the spatial resolution of the observations. The derived Ly-α/Ly-β
intensity ratio is also compatible with previous results.
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Title: High-frequency Wave Propagation Along a Spicule Observed
by CLASP
Authors: Yoshida, Masaki; Suematsu, Yoshinori; Ishikawa, Ryohko;
Okamoto, Takenori J.; Kubo, Masahito; Kano, Ryouhei; Narukage,
Noriyuki; Bando, Takamasa; Winebarger, Amy R.; Kobayashi, Ken;
Trujillo Bueno, Javier; Auchère, Frédéric
2019ApJ...887....2Y Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) sounding
rocket experiment, launched in 2015 September, observed the hydrogen
Lyα line (121.6 nm) in an unprecedented high temporal cadence of
0.3 s. CLASP performed sit-and-stare observations of the quiet Sun
near the limb for 5 minutes with a slit perpendicular to the limb
and successfully captured an off-limb spicule evolving along the
slit. The Lyα line is well suited for investigating how spicules
affect the corona because it is sensitive to higher temperatures than
other chromospheric lines, owing to its large optical thickness. We
found high-frequency oscillations of the Doppler velocity with periods
of 20-50 s and low-frequency oscillation of periods of ∼240 s on
the spicule. From a wavelet analysis of the time sequence data of
the Doppler velocity, in the early phase of the spicule evolution,
we found that waves with a period of ∼30 s and a velocity amplitude
of 2-3 km s<SUP>-1</SUP> propagated upward along the spicule with a
phase velocity of ∼470 km s<SUP>-1</SUP>. In contrast, in the later
phase, possible downward and standing waves with smaller velocity
amplitudes were also observed. The high-frequency waves observed in
the early phase of the spicule evolution would be related with the
dynamics and the formation of the spicules. Our analysis enabled us to
identify the upward, downward, and standing waves along the spicule
and to obtain the velocity amplitude of each wave directly from the
Doppler velocity for the first time. We evaluated the energy flux
by the upward-propagating waves along the spicule, and discussed the
impact to the coronal heating.
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Title: Modeling the Scattering Polarization of the Hydrogen Lyα
Line Observed by CLASP in a Filament Channel
Authors: Štěpán, J.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Gunár, S.; Heinzel, P.;
del Pino Alemán, T.; Kano, R.; Ishikawa, R.; Narukage, N.; Bando,
T.; Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K.; Auchère, F.
2019ASPC..526..165S Altcode:
The 400 arcsec spectrograph slit of CLASP crossed mainly quiet
regions of the solar chromosphere, from the limb towards the solar
disk center. Interestingly, in the CLASP slit-jaw images and in the
SDO images of the He II line at 304 Å, we can identify a filament
channel (FC) extending over more than 60 arcsec crossing the slit of
the spectrograph. In order to interpret the peculiar spatial variation
of the Q/I and U/I signals observed by CLASP in the hydrogen Lyα line
(1216 Å), we perform multi-dimensional radiative transfer modeling
in given filament models. In this contribution, we show the first
results of the two-dimensional calculations we have carried out, with
the aim of determining the filament thermal and magnetic structure by
comparing the theoretical and the observed polarization signals. Our
results suggest that the temperature gradients in the filament observed
by CLASP are significantly larger than previously thought.
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Title: Comparison of Scattering Polarization Signals Observed by
CLASP: Possible Indication of the Hanle Effect
Authors: Ishikawa, R.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Uitenbroek, H.; Kubo, M.;
Tsuneta, S.; Goto, M.; Kano, R.; Narukage, N.; Bando, T.; Katsukawa,
Y.; Ishikawa, S.; Giono, G.; Suematsu, Y.; Hara, H.; Shimizu, T.;
Sakao, T.; Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K.; Cirtain, J.; Champey, P.;
Auchère, F.; Štěpán, J.; Belluzzi, L.; Asensio Ramos, A.; Manso
Sainz, R.; De Pomtieu, B.; Ichimoto, K.; Carlsson, M.; Casini, R.
2019ASPC..526..305I Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP; Kano et
al. 2012; Kobayashi et al. 2012; Kubo et al. 2014) observed, for the
first time, the linear polarization produced by scattering processes
in the hydrogen Lyman-α (121.57 nm) and Si III (120.56 nm) lines of
the solar disk radiation. The complexity of the observed scattering
polarization (i.e., conspicuous spatial variations in Q/I and U/I
at spatial scales of 10″-20″ and the absence of center-to- limb
variation at the Lyman-α center; see Kano et al. 2017) motivated us
to search for possible hints of the operation of the Hanle effect by
comparing: (a) the Lyman-α line center signal, for which the critical
field strength (B<SUB>H</SUB>) for the onset of the Hanle effect is
53 G, (b) the Lyman-α wing, which is insensitive to the Hanle effect,
and (c) the Si III line, whose B<SUB>H</SUB> = 290 G. We focus on four
regions with different total unsigned photospheric magnetic fluxes
(estimated from SDO/HMI observations), and compare the corresponding
U/I spatial variations in the Lyman-α wing, Lyman-α center, and Si III
line. The U/I signal in the Lyman-α wing shows an antisymmetric spatial
distribution, which is caused by the presence of a bright structure in
all the selected regions, regardless of the total unsigned photospheric
magnetic flux. In an internetwork region, the Lyman-α center shows an
antisymmetric spatial variation across the selected bright structure,
but it does not show it in other more magnetized regions. In the Si III
line, the spatial variation of U/I deviates from the above-mentioned
antisymmetric shape as the total unsigned photospheric magnetic flux
increases. We argue that a plausible explanation of this differential
behavior is the operation of the Hanle effect. <P />This work, presented
in an oral contribution at this Workshop, has been published on The
Astrophysical Journal (Ishikawa et al. 2017).
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Title: CLASP Constraints on the Magnetization and Geometrical
Complexity of the Chromosphere-Corona Transition Region
Authors: Trujillo Bueno, J.; Štěpán, J.; Belluzzi, L.; Asensio
Ramos, A.; Manso Sainz, R.; del Pino Alemán, T.; Casini, R.; Ishikawa,
R.; Kano, R.; Winebarger, A.; Auchère, F.; Narukage, N.; Kobayashi,
K.; Bando, T.; Katsukawa, Y.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Giono, G.; Hara,
H.; Suematsu, Y.; Shimizu, T.; Sakao, T.; Tsuneta, S.; Ichimoto, K.;
Cirtain, J.; Champey, P.; De Pontieu, B.; Carlsson, M.
2018ApJ...866L..15T Altcode: 2018arXiv180908865T
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a
suborbital rocket experiment that on 2015 September 3 measured
the linear polarization produced by scattering processes in the
hydrogen Lyα line of the solar disk radiation. The line-center
photons of this spectral line radiation mostly stem from the
chromosphere-corona transition region (TR). These unprecedented
spectropolarimetric observations revealed an interesting surprise,
namely that there is practically no center-to-limb variation (CLV) in
the Q/I line-center signals. Using an analytical model, we first show
that the geometric complexity of the corrugated surface that delineates
the TR has a crucial impact on the CLV of the Q/I and U/I line-center
signals. Second, we introduce a statistical description of the solar
atmosphere based on a 3D model derived from a state-of-the-art radiation
magnetohydrodynamic simulation. Each realization of the statistical
ensemble is a 3D model characterized by a given degree of magnetization
and corrugation of the TR, and for each such realization we solve the
full 3D radiative transfer problem taking into account the impact
of the CLASP instrument degradation on the calculated polarization
signals. Finally, we apply the statistical inference method presented
in a previous paper to show that the TR of the 3D model that produces
the best agreement with the CLASP observations has a relatively weak
magnetic field and a relatively high degree of corrugation. We emphasize
that a suitable way to validate or refute numerical models of the upper
solar chromosphere is by confronting calculations and observations
of the scattering polarization in ultraviolet lines sensitive to the
Hanle effect.
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Title: Characterizing vibrations at the Subaru Telescope for the
Subaru coronagraphic extreme adaptive optics instrument
Authors: Lozi, Julien; Guyon, Olivier; Jovanovic, Nemanja; Takato,
Naruhisa; Singh, Garima; Norris, Barnaby; Okita, Hirofumi; Bando,
Takamasa; Martinache, Frantz
2018JATIS...4d9001L Altcode: 2018arXiv180908296L
Vibrations are a key source of image degradation in
ground-based instrumentation, especially for high-contrast imaging
instruments. Vibrations reduce the quality of the correction provided
by the adaptive optics system, blurring the science image, and reducing
the sensitivity of most science modules. We studied vibrations using
the Subaru coronagraphic extreme adaptive optics instrument at the
Subaru Telescope as it is the most vibration-sensitive system installed
on the telescope. We observed vibrations for all targets, usually at
low frequency, below 10 Hz. Using accelerometers on the telescope,
we confirmed that these vibrations were introduced by the telescope
itself, and not the instrument. It was determined that they were
related to the pitch of the encoders of the telescope drive system,
both in altitude and azimuth, with frequencies evolving proportionally
to the rotational speed of the telescope. Another strong vibration
was found in the altitude axis of the telescope, around the time of
transit of the target, when the altitude rotational speed is below
0.12 arc sec / s. These vibrations are amplified by the 10-Hz control
loop of the telescope, especially in a region between 4 and 6 Hz. We
demonstrate an accurate characterization of the frequencies of the
telescope vibrations using only the coordinates-right ascension and
declination-of the target and provide a means by which we can predict
them for any telescope pointing. This will be a powerful tool that
can be used by more advanced wavefront control algorithms, especially
predictive control that uses information about the disturbance to
calculate the best correction.
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Title: A Statistical Inference Method for Interpreting the CLASP
Observations
Authors: Štěpán, J.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Belluzzi, L.; Asensio
Ramos, A.; Manso Sainz, R.; del Pino Alemán, T.; Casini, R.; Kano, R.;
Winebarger, A.; Auchère, F.; Ishikawa, R.; Narukage, N.; Kobayashi,
K.; Bando, T.; Katsukawa, Y.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Giono, G.; Hara,
H.; Suematsu, Y.; Shimizu, T.; Sakao, T.; Tsuneta, S.; Ichimoto, K.;
Cirtain, J.; Champey, P.; De Pontieu, B.; Carlsson, M.
2018ApJ...865...48S Altcode: 2018arXiv180802725S
On 2015 September 3, the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter
(CLASP) successfully measured the linear polarization produced by
scattering processes in the hydrogen Lyα line of the solar disk
radiation, revealing conspicuous spatial variations in the Q/I and U/I
signals. Via the Hanle effect, the line-center Q/I and U/I amplitudes
encode information on the magnetic field of the chromosphere-corona
transition region, but they are also sensitive to the three-dimensional
structure of this corrugated interface region. With the help of a simple
line-formation model, here we propose a statistical inference method
for interpreting the Lyα line-center polarization observed by CLASP.
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Title: Current State of UV Spectro-Polarimetry and its Future
Direction
Authors: Ishikawa, Ryohko; Sakao, Taro; Katsukawa, Yukio; Hara,
Hirohisa; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Kubo, Masahito;
Auchere, Frederic; De Pontieu, Bart; Winebarger, Amy; Kobayashi,
. Ken; Kano, Ryouhei; Narukage, Noriyuki; Trujillo Bueno, Javier;
Song, Dong-uk; Manso Sainz, Rafael; Asensio Ramos, Andres; Leenaarts,
Jorritt; Carlsson, Mats; Bando, Takamasa; Ishikawa, Shin-nosuke;
Tsuneta, Saku; Belluzzi, Luca; Suematsu, Yoshinori; Giono, Gabriel;
Yoshida, Masaki; Goto, Motoshi; Del Pino Aleman, Tanausu; Stepan,
Jiri; Okamoto, Joten; Tsuzuki, Toshihiro; Uraguchi, Fumihiro; Champey,
Patrick; Alsina Ballester, Ernest; Casini, Roberto; McKenzie, David;
Rachmeler, Laurel; Bethge, Christian
2018cosp...42E1564I Altcode:
To obtain quantitative information on the magnetic field in low beta
regions (i.e., upper chromosphere and above) has been increasingly
important to understand the energetic phenomena of the outer
solar atmosphere such as flare, coronal heating, and the solar wind
acceleration. In the UV range, there are abundant spectral lines that
originate in the upper chromosphere and transition region. However,
the Zeeman effect in these spectral lines does not give rise to easily
measurable polarization signals because of the weak magnetic field
strength and the larger Doppler broadening compared with the Zeeman
effect. Instead, the Hanle effect in UV lines is expected to be a
suitable diagnostic tool of the magnetic field in the upper atmospheric
layers. To investigate the validity of UV spectro-polarimetry and
the Hanle effect, the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter
(CLASP), which is a NASA sounding- rocket experiment, was launched at
White Sands in US on September 3, 2015. During its 5 minutes ballistic
flight, it successfully performed spectro-polarimetric observations
of the hydrogen Lyman-alpha line (121.57 nm) with an unprecedentedly
high polarization sensitivity of 0.1% in this wavelength range. CLASP
observed the linear polarization produced by scattering process in VUV
lines for the first time and detected the polarization signals which
indicate the operation of the Hanle effect. Following the success
of CLASP, we are confident that UV spectro-polarimetry is the way
to proceed, and we are planning the second flight of CLASP (CLASP2:
Chromospheric LAyer SpectroPolarimeter 2). For this second flight we
will carry out spectro-polarimetry in the Mg II h and k lines around
280 nm, with minimum modifications of the CLASP1 instrument. The linear
polarization in the Mg II k line is induced by scattering processes and
the Hanle effect, being sensitive to magnetic field strengths of 5 to 50
G. In addition, the circular polarizations in the Mg II h and k lines
induced by the Zeeman effect can be measurable in at least plage and
active regions. The combination of the Hanle and Zeeman effects could
help us to more reliably infer the magnetic fields of the upper solar
chromosphere. CLASP2 was selected for flight and is being developed for
launch in the spring of 2019.Based on these sounding rocket experiments
(CLASP1 and 2), we aim at establishing the strategy and refining the
instrument concept for future space missions to explore the enigmatic
atmospheric layers via UV spectro-polarimetry.
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Title: Comparison of Solar Fine Structure Observed Simultaneously
in Lyα and Mg II h
Authors: Schmit, D.; Sukhorukov, A. V.; De Pontieu, B.; Leenaarts,
J.; Bethge, C.; Winebarger, A.; Auchère, F.; Bando, T.; Ishikawa,
R.; Kano, R.; Kobayashi, K.; Narukage, N.; Trujillo Bueno, J.
2017ApJ...847..141S Altcode: 2017arXiv170900035S
The Chromospheric Lyman Alpha Spectropolarimeter (CLASP) observed the
Sun in H I Lyα during a suborbital rocket flight on 2015 September
3. The Interface Region Imaging Telescope (IRIS) coordinated with the
CLASP observations and recorded nearly simultaneous and co-spatial
observations in the Mg II h and k lines. The Mg II h and Lyα lines
are important transitions, energetically and diagnostically, in the
chromosphere. The canonical solar atmosphere model predicts that these
lines form in close proximity to each other and so we expect that the
line profiles will exhibit similar variability. In this analysis, we
present these coordinated observations and discuss how the two profiles
compare over a region of quiet Sun at viewing angles that approach the
limb. In addition to the observations, we synthesize both line profiles
using a 3D radiation-MHD simulation. In the observations, we find that
the peak width and the peak intensities are well correlated between the
lines. For the simulation, we do not find the same relationship. We
have attempted to mitigate the instrumental differences between IRIS
and CLASP and to reproduce the instrumental factors in the synthetic
profiles. The model indicates that formation heights of the lines
differ in a somewhat regular fashion related to magnetic geometry. This
variation explains to some degree the lack of correlation, observed
and synthesized, between Mg II and Lyα. Our analysis will aid in the
definition of future observatories that aim to link dynamics in the
chromosphere and transition region.
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Title: CLASP/SJ Observations of Rapid Time Variations in the Lyα
Emission in a Solar Active Region
Authors: Ishikawa, Shin-nosuke; Kubo, Masahito; Katsukawa, Yukio;
Kano, Ryouhei; Narukage, Noriyuki; Ishikawa, Ryohko; Bando, Takamasa;
Winebarger, Amy; Kobayashi, Ken; Trujillo Bueno, Javier; Auchère,
Frédéric
2017ApJ...846..127I Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyα SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP) is a sounding
rocket experiment launched on 2015 September 3 to investigate the
solar chromosphere and transition region. The slit-jaw (SJ) optical
system captured Lyα images with a high time cadence of 0.6 s. From
the CLASP/SJ observations, many variations in the solar chromosphere
and transition region emission with a timescale of <1 minute
were discovered. In this paper, we focus on the active region within
the SJ field of view and investigate the relationship between short
(<30 s) temporal variations in the Lyα emission and the coronal
structures observed by Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging
Assembly (AIA). We compare the Lyα temporal variations at the coronal
loop footpoints observed in the AIA 211 Å (≈2 MK) and AIA 171 Å
(≈0.6 MK) channels with those in the regions with bright Lyα features
without a clear association with the coronal loop footpoints. We find
more short (<30 s) temporal variations in the Lyα intensity in the
footpoint regions. Those variations did not depend on the temperature
of the coronal loops. Therefore, the temporal variations in the Lyα
intensity at this timescale range could be related to the heating of
the coronal structures up to temperatures around the sensitivity peak
of 171 Å. No signature was found to support the scenario that these
Lyα intensity variations were related to the nanoflares. Waves or
jets from the lower layers (lower chromosphere or photosphere) are
possible causes for this phenomenon.
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Title: Indication of the Hanle Effect by Comparing the Scattering
Polarization Observed by CLASP in the Lyα and Si III 120.65 nm Lines
Authors: Ishikawa, R.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Uitenbroek, H.; Kubo, M.;
Tsuneta, S.; Goto, M.; Kano, R.; Narukage, N.; Bando, T.; Katsukawa,
Y.; Ishikawa, S.; Giono, G.; Suematsu, Y.; Hara, H.; Shimizu, T.;
Sakao, T.; Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K.; Cirtain, J.; Champey, P.;
Auchère, F.; Štěpán, J.; Belluzzi, L.; Asensio Ramos, A.; Manso
Sainz, R.; De Pontieu, B.; Ichimoto, K.; Carlsson, M.; Casini, R.
2017ApJ...841...31I Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter is a sounding
rocket experiment that has provided the first successful measurement
of the linear polarization produced by scattering processes in
the hydrogen Lyα line (121.57 nm) radiation of the solar disk. In
this paper, we report that the Si III line at 120.65 nm also shows
scattering polarization and we compare the scattering polarization
signals observed in the Lyα and Si III lines in order to search for
observational signatures of the Hanle effect. We focus on four selected
bright structures and investigate how the U/I spatial variations vary
between the Lyα wing, the Lyα core, and the Si III line as a function
of the total unsigned photospheric magnetic flux estimated from Solar
Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager observations. In
an internetwork region, the Lyα core shows an antisymmetric spatial
variation across the selected bright structure, but it does not show
it in other more magnetized regions. In the Si III line, the spatial
variation of U/I deviates from the above-mentioned antisymmetric
shape as the total unsigned photospheric magnetic flux increases. A
plausible explanation of this difference is the operation of the Hanle
effect. We argue that diagnostic techniques based on the scattering
polarization observed simultaneously in two spectral lines with very
different sensitivities to the Hanle effect, like Lyα and Si III,
are of great potential interest for exploring the magnetism of the
upper solar chromosphere and transition region.
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Title: Polarization Calibration of the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
SpectroPolarimeter for a 0.1% Polarization Sensitivity in the VUV
Range. Part II: In-Flight Calibration
Authors: Giono, G.; Ishikawa, R.; Narukage, N.; Kano, R.; Katsukawa,
Y.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Bando, T.; Hara, H.; Suematsu, Y.;
Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K.; Auchère, F.; Trujillo Bueno, J.;
Tsuneta, S.; Shimizu, T.; Sakao, T.; Cirtain, J.; Champey, P.; Asensio
Ramos, A.; Štěpán, J.; Belluzzi, L.; Manso Sainz, R.; De Pontieu,
B.; Ichimoto, K.; Carlsson, M.; Casini, R.; Goto, M.
2017SoPh..292...57G Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter is a sounding
rocket instrument designed to measure for the first time the linear
polarization of the hydrogen Lyman-α line (121.6 nm). The instrument
was successfully launched on 3 September 2015 and observations were
conducted at the solar disc center and close to the limb during the
five-minutes flight. In this article, the disc center observations are
used to provide an in-flight calibration of the instrument spurious
polarization. The derived in-flight spurious polarization is consistent
with the spurious polarization levels determined during the pre-flight
calibration and a statistical analysis of the polarization fluctuations
from solar origin is conducted to ensure a 0.014% precision on the
spurious polarization. The combination of the pre-flight and the
in-flight polarization calibrations provides a complete picture of
the instrument response matrix, and a proper error transfer method
is used to confirm the achieved polarization accuracy. As a result,
the unprecedented 0.1% polarization accuracy of the instrument in the
vacuum ultraviolet is ensured by the polarization calibration.
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Title: Discovery of Scattering Polarization in the Hydrogen Lyα
Line of the Solar Disk Radiation
Authors: Kano, R.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Winebarger, A.; Auchère, F.;
Narukage, N.; Ishikawa, R.; Kobayashi, K.; Bando, T.; Katsukawa, Y.;
Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Giono, G.; Hara, H.; Suematsu, Y.; Shimizu,
T.; Sakao, T.; Tsuneta, S.; Ichimoto, K.; Goto, M.; Belluzzi, L.;
Štěpán, J.; Asensio Ramos, A.; Manso Sainz, R.; Champey, P.;
Cirtain, J.; De Pontieu, B.; Casini, R.; Carlsson, M.
2017ApJ...839L..10K Altcode: 2017arXiv170403228K
There is a thin transition region (TR) in the solar atmosphere where
the temperature rises from 10,000 K in the chromosphere to millions
of degrees in the corona. Little is known about the mechanisms that
dominate this enigmatic region other than the magnetic field plays a
key role. The magnetism of the TR can only be detected by polarimetric
measurements of a few ultraviolet (UV) spectral lines, the Lyα line
of neutral hydrogen at 121.6 nm (the strongest line of the solar UV
spectrum) being of particular interest given its sensitivity to the
Hanle effect (the magnetic-field-induced modification of the scattering
line polarization). We report the discovery of linear polarization
produced by scattering processes in the Lyα line, obtained with
the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) rocket
experiment. The Stokes profiles observed by CLASP in quiet regions of
the solar disk show that the Q/I and U/I linear polarization signals are
of the order of 0.1% in the line core and up to a few percent in the
nearby wings, and that both have conspicuous spatial variations with
scales of ∼10 arcsec. These observations help constrain theoretical
models of the chromosphere-corona TR and extrapolations of the
magnetic field from photospheric magnetograms. In fact, the observed
spatial variation from disk to limb of polarization at the line core
and wings already challenge the predictions from three-dimensional
magnetohydrodynamical models of the upper solar chromosphere.
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Title: High-Reflectivity Coatings for a Vacuum Ultraviolet
Spectropolarimeter
Authors: Narukage, Noriyuki; Kubo, Masahito; Ishikawa, Ryohko;
Ishikawa, Shin-nosuke; Katsukawa, Yukio; Kobiki, Toshihiko; Giono,
Gabriel; Kano, Ryouhei; Bando, Takamasa; Tsuneta, Saku; Auchère,
Frédéric; Kobayashi, Ken; Winebarger, Amy; McCandless, Jim; Chen,
Jianrong; Choi, Joanne
2017SoPh..292...40N Altcode:
Precise polarization measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV)
region are expected to be a new tool for inferring the magnetic fields
in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. High-reflectivity coatings are key
elements to achieving high-throughput optics for precise polarization
measurements. We fabricated three types of high-reflectivity coatings
for a solar spectropolarimeter in the hydrogen Lyman-α (Lyα ; 121.567
nm) region and evaluated their performance. The first high-reflectivity
mirror coating offers a reflectivity of more than 80 % in Lyα
optics. The second is a reflective narrow-band filter coating that has
a peak reflectivity of 57 % in Lyα , whereas its reflectivity in the
visible light range is lower than 1/10 of the peak reflectivity (∼5
% on average). This coating can be used to easily realize a visible
light rejection system, which is indispensable for a solar telescope,
while maintaining high throughput in the Lyα line. The third is a
high-efficiency reflective polarizing coating that almost exclusively
reflects an s-polarized beam at its Brewster angle of 68° with a
reflectivity of 55 %. This coating achieves both high polarizing power
and high throughput. These coatings contributed to the high-throughput
solar VUV spectropolarimeter called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP), which was launched on 3 September, 2015.
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Title: Polarization Calibration of the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
SpectroPolarimeter for a 0.1 % Polarization Sensitivity in the VUV
Range. Part I: Pre-flight Calibration
Authors: Giono, G.; Ishikawa, R.; Narukage, N.; Kano, R.; Katsukawa,
Y.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Bando, T.; Hara, H.; Suematsu, Y.;
Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K.; Auchère, F.; Trujillo Bueno, J.
2016SoPh..291.3831G Altcode: 2016SoPh..tmp..177G
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP) is a sounding
rocket experiment designed to measure for the first time the linear
polarization of the hydrogen Lyman-α line (121.6 nm) and requires
a 0.1 % polarization sensitivity, which is unprecedented for a
spectropolarimeter in the vacuum UV (VUV) spectral range.
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Title: Discovery of Ubiquitous Fast-Propagating Intensity Disturbances
by the Chromospheric Lyman Alpha Spectropolarimeter (CLASP)
Authors: Kubo, M.; Katsukawa, Y.; Suematsu, Y.; Kano, R.; Bando,
T.; Narukage, N.; Ishikawa, R.; Hara, H.; Giono, G.; Tsuneta, S.;
Ishikawa, S.; Shimizu, T.; Sakao, T.; Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K.;
Cirtain, J.; Champey, P.; Auchère, F.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Asensio
Ramos, A.; Štěpán, J.; Belluzzi, L.; Manso Sainz, R.; De Pontieu,
B.; Ichimoto, K.; Carlsson, M.; Casini, R.; Goto, M.
2016ApJ...832..141K Altcode:
High-cadence observations by the slit-jaw (SJ) optics system of the
sounding rocket experiment known as the Chromospheric Lyman Alpha
Spectropolarimeter (CLASP) reveal ubiquitous intensity disturbances
that recurrently propagate in either the chromosphere or the transition
region or both at a speed much higher than the speed of sound. The
CLASP/SJ instrument provides a time series of two-dimensional images
taken with broadband filters centered on the Lyα line at a 0.6 s
cadence. The multiple fast-propagating intensity disturbances appear in
the quiet Sun and in an active region, and they are clearly detected in
at least 20 areas in a field of view of 527″ × 527″ during the 5
minute observing time. The apparent speeds of the intensity disturbances
range from 150 to 350 km s<SUP>-1</SUP>, and they are comparable
to the local Alfvén speed in the transition region. The intensity
disturbances tend to propagate along bright elongated structures away
from areas with strong photospheric magnetic fields. This suggests
that the observed fast-propagating intensity disturbances are related
to the magnetic canopy structures. The maximum distance traveled by
the intensity disturbances is about 10″, and the widths are a few
arcseconds, which are almost determined by a pixel size of 1.″03. The
timescale of each intensity pulse is shorter than 30 s. One possible
explanation for the fast-propagating intensity disturbances observed
by CLASP is magnetohydrodynamic fast-mode waves.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Optical alignment of the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
Spectro-Polarimeter using sophisticated methods to minimize activities
under vacuum
Authors: Giono, G.; Katsukawa, Y.; Ishikawa, R.; Narukage, N.;
Kano, R.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Bando, T.; Hara, H.; Suematsu, Y.;
Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K.; Auchère, F.; Trujillo Bueno, J.
2016SPIE.9905E..3DG Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a
sounding-rocket instrument developed at the National Astronomical
Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) as a part of an international
collaboration. The instrument main scientific goal is to achieve
polarization measurement of the Lyman-α line at 121.56 nm emitted from
the solar upper-chromosphere and transition region with an unprecedented
0.1% accuracy. The optics are composed of a Cassegrain telescope
coated with a "cold mirror" coating optimized for UV reflection and
a dual-channel spectrograph allowing for simultaneous observation of
the two orthogonal states of polarization. Although the polarization
sensitivity is the most important aspect of the instrument, the spatial
and spectral resolutions of the instrument are also crucial to observe
the chromospheric features and resolve the Ly-α profiles. A precise
alignment of the optics is required to ensure the resolutions, but
experiments under vacuum conditions are needed since Ly-α is absorbed
by air, making the alignment experiments difficult. To bypass this
issue, we developed methods to align the telescope and the spectrograph
separately in visible light. We explain these methods and present
the results for the optical alignment of the CLASP telescope and
spectrograph. We then discuss the combined performances of both parts
to derive the expected resolutions of the instrument, and compare them
with the flight observations performed on September 3<SUP>rd</SUP> 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Development of a near-infrared detector and a fiber-optic
integral field unit for a space solar observatory SOLAR-C
Authors: Katsukawa, Yukio; Kamata, Yukiko; Anan, Tetsu; Hara,
Hirohisa; Suematsu, Yoshinori; Bando, Takamasa; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi;
Shimizu, Toshifumi
2016SPIE.9904E..5IK Altcode:
We are developing a high sensitivity and fast readout near-infrared
(NIR) detector and an integral field unit (IFU) for making
spectro-polarimetric observations of rapidly varying chromospheric
spectrum lines, such as He I 1083 nm and Ca II 854 nm, in the
next space-based solar mission SOLAR-C. We made tests of a 1.7 μm
cutoff H2RG detector with the SIDECAR ASIC for the application in
SOLAR-C. It's important to verify its perfor- mance in the temperature
condition around -100 °C, which is hotter than the typical temperature
environment used for a NIR detector. We built a system for testing the
detector between -70 °C and -140 °C. We verified linearity, read-out
noise, and dark current in both the slow and fast readout modes. We
found the detector has to be cooled down lower than -100 °C because
of significant increase of the number of hot pixels in the hotter
environment. The compact and polarization maintenance IFU was designed
using fiber-optic ribbons consisting of rectangular cores which exhibit
good polarization maintenance. A Silicone adhesive DC-SE9187L was used
to hold the fragile fiber-optic ribbons in a metal housing. Polarization
maintenance property was confirmed though polarization calibration
as well as temperature control are required to suppress polarization
crosstalk and to achieve the polarization accuracy in SOLAR-C.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: In-flight performance of the polarization modulator in the
CLASP rocket experiment
Authors: Ishikawa, Shin-nosuke; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Kano, Ryohei;
Bando, Takamasa; Ishikawa, Ryoko; Giono, Gabriel; Beabout, Dyana L.;
Beabout, Brent L.; Nakayama, Satoshi; Tajima, Takao
2016SPIE.9905E..2UI Altcode:
We developed a polarization modulation unit (PMU), a motor system
to rotate a waveplate continuously. In polarization measurements,
the continuous rotating waveplate is an important element as well as
a polarization analyzer to record the incident polarization in a time
series of camera exposures. The control logic of PMU was originally
developed for the next Japanese solar observation satellite SOLAR-C by
the SOLAR-C working group. We applied this PMU for the Chromospheric
Lyman-alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP). CLASP is a sounding rocket
experiment to observe the linear polarization of the Lyman-alpha
emission (121.6 nm vacuum ultraviolet) from the upper chromosphere and
transition region of the Sun with a high polarization sensitivity of
0.1 % for the first time and investigate their vector magnetic field
by the Hanle effect. The driver circuit was developed to optimize the
rotation for the CLASP waveplate (12.5 rotations per minute). Rotation
non- uniformity of the waveplate causes error in the polarization
degree (i.e. scale error) and crosstalk between Stokes components. We
confirmed that PMU has superior rotation uniformity in the ground
test and the scale error and crosstalk of Stokes Q and U are less than
0.01 %. After PMU was attached to the CLASP instrument, we performed
vibration tests and confirmed all PMU functions performance including
rotation uniformity did not change. CLASP was successfully launched on
September 3, 2015, and PMU functioned well as designed. PMU achieved
a good rotation uniformity, and the high precision polarization
measurement of CLASP was successfully achieved.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Spectro-polarimetric observation in UV with CLASP to probe
the chromosphere and transition region
Authors: Kano, Ryouhei; Ishikawa, Ryohko; Winebarger, Amy R.; Auchère,
Frédéric; Trujillo Bueno, Javier; Narukage, Noriyuki; Kobayashi,
Ken; Bando, Takamasa; Katsukawa, Yukio; Kubo, Masahito; Ishikawa,
Shin-Nosuke; Giono, Gabriel; Hara, Hirohisa; Suematsu, Yoshinori;
Shimizu, Toshifumi; Sakao, Taro; Tsuneta, Saku; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi;
Goto, Motoshi; Cirtain, Jonathan W.; De Pontieu, Bart; Casini, Roberto;
Manso Sainz, Rafael; Asensio Ramos, Andres; Stepan, Jiri; Belluzzi,
Luca; Carlsson, Mats
2016SPD....4710107K Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a NASA
sounding-rocket experiment that was performed in White Sands in
the US on September 3, 2015. During its 5-minute ballistic flight,
CLASP successfully made the first spectro-polarimetric observation in
the Lyman-alpha line (121.57 nm) originating in the chromosphere and
transition region. Since the Lyman-alpha polarization is sensitive
to magnetic field of 10-100 G by the Hanle effect, we aim to infer
the magnetic field information in such upper solar atmosphere with
this experiment.The obtained CLASP data showed that the Lyman-alpha
scattering polarization is about a few percent in the wings and
the order of 0.1% in the core near the solar limb, as it had been
theoretically predicted, and that both polarization signals have a
conspicuous spatio-temporal variability. CLASP also observed another
upper-chromospheric line, Si III (120.65 nm), whose critical field
strength for the Hanle effect is 290 G, and showed a measurable
scattering polarization of a few % in this line. The polarization
properties of the Si III line could facilitate the interpretation of
the scattering polarization observed in the Lyman-alpha line.In this
presentation, we would like to show how the upper chromosphere and
transition region are seen in the polarization of these UV lines and
discuss the possible source of these complicated polarization signals.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Development of a Precise Polarization Modulator for UV
Spectropolarimetry
Authors: Ishikawa, S.; Shimizu, T.; Kano, R.; Bando, T.; Ishikawa,
R.; Giono, G.; Tsuneta, S.; Nakayama, S.; Tajima, T.
2015SoPh..290.3081I Altcode: 2015arXiv150905716I; 2015SoPh..tmp..120I
We developed a polarization modulation unit (PMU) to rotate a
waveplate continuously in order to observe solar magnetic fields
by spectropolarimetry. The non-uniformity of the PMU rotation may
cause errors in the measurement of the degree of linear polarization
(scale error) and its angle (crosstalk between Stokes-Q and -U ),
although it does not cause an artificial linear polarization signal
(spurious polarization). We rotated a waveplate with the PMU to obtain
a polarization modulation curve and estimated the scale error and
crosstalk caused by the rotation non-uniformity. The estimated scale
error and crosstalk were <0.01 % for both. This PMU will be used as
a waveplate motor for the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter
(CLASP) rocket experiment. We confirm that the PMU performs and
functions sufficiently well for CLASP.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: CLASP: A UV Spectropolarimeter on a Sounding Rocket for
Probing theChromosphere-Corona Transition Regio
Authors: Ishikawa, Ryohko; Kano, Ryouhei; Winebarger, Amy; Auchere,
Frederic; Trujillo Bueno, Javier; Bando, Takamasa; Narukage,
Noriyuki; Kobayashi, Ken; Katsukawa, Yukio; Kubo, Masahito; Ishikawa,
Shin-nosuke; Giono, Gabriel; Tsuneta, Saku; Hara, Hirohisa; Suematsu,
Yoshinori; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Sakao, Taro; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi;
Cirtain, Jonathan; De Pontieu, Bart; Casini, Roberto; Manso Sainz,
Rafael; Asensio Ramos, Andres; Stepan, Jiri; Belluzzi, Luca
2015IAUGA..2254536I Altcode:
The wish to understand the energetic phenomena of the outer solar
atmosphere makes it increasingly important to achieve quantitative
information on the magnetic field in the chromosphere-corona
transition region. To this end, we need to measure and model the
linear polarization produced by scattering processes and the Hanle
effect in strong UV resonance lines, such as the hydrogen Lyman-alpha
line. A team consisting of Japan, USA, Spain, France, and Norway has
been developing a sounding rocket experiment called the Chromospheric
Lyman-alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP). The aim is to detect the
scattering polarization produced by anisotropic radiation pumping in
the hydrogen Lyman-alpha line (121.6 nm), and via the Hanle effect to
try to constrain the magnetic field vector in the upper chromosphere
and transition region. In this talk, we will present an overview
of our CLASP mission, its scientific objectives, ground tests made,
and the latest information on the launch planned for the Summer of 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Precision VUV Spectro-Polarimetry for Solar Chromospheric
Magnetic Field Measurements
Authors: Ishikawa, R.; Bando, T.; Hara, H.; Ishikawa, S.; Kano, R.;
Kubo, M.; Katsukawa, Y.; Kobiki, T.; Narukage, N.; Suematsu, Y.;
Tsuneta, S.; Aoki, K.; Miyagawa, K.; Ichimoto, K.; Kobayashi, K.;
Auchère, F.; Clasp Team
2014ASPC..489..319I Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a VUV
spectro-polarimeter optimized for measuring the linear polarization
of the Lyman-α line (121.6 nm) to be launched in 2015 with NASA's
sounding rocket (Ishikawa et al. 2011; Narukage et al. 2011; Kano et
al. 2012; Kobayashi et al. 2012). With this experiment, we aim to (1)
observe the scattering polarization in the Lyman-α line, (2) detect
the Hanle effect, and (3) assess the magnetic fields in the upper
chromosphere and transition region for the first time. The polarization
measurement error consists of scale error δ a (error in amplitude
of linear polarization), azimuth error Δφ (error in the direction
of linear polarization), and spurious polarization ɛ (false linear
polarization signals). The error ɛ should be suppressed below 0.1%
in the Lyman-α core (121.567 nm ±0.02 nm), and 0.5% in the Lyman-α
wing (121.567 nm ±0.05 nm), based on our scientific requirements shown
in Table 2 of Kubo et al. (2014). From scientific justification, we
adopt Δ φ<2° and δ a<10% as the instrument requirements. The
spectro-polarimeter features a continuously rotating MgF<SUB>2</SUB>
waveplate (Ishikawa et al. 2013), a dual-beam spectrograph with a
spherical grating working also as a beam splitter, and two polarization
analyzers (Bridou et al. 2011), which are mounted at 90 degree from
each other to measure two orthogonal polarization simultaneously. For
the optical layout of the CLASP instrument, see Figure 3 in Kubo et
al. (2014). Considering the continuous rotation of the half-waveplate,
the modulation efficiency is 0.64 both for Stokes Q and U. All the raw
data are returned and demodulation (successive addition or subtraction
of images) is done on the ground. <P />We control the CLASP polarization
performance in the following three steps. First, we evaluate the
throughput and polarization properties of each optical component in
the Lyman-α line, using the Ultraviolet Synchrotron ORbital Radiation
Facility (UVSOR) at the Institute for Molecular Science. The second
step is polarization calibration of the spectro-polarimeter after
alignment. Since the spurious polarization caused by the axisymmetric
telescope is estimated to be negligibly small because of the symmetry
(Ishikawa et al. 2014), we do not perform end-to-end polarization
calibration. As the final step, before the scientific observation near
the limb, we make a short observation at the Sun center and verify
the polarization sensitivity, because the scattering polarization
is expected to be close to zero at the Sun center due to symmetric
geometry. In order to clarify whether we will be able to achieve the
required polarization sensitivity and accuracy via these steps, we
exercise polarization error budget, by investigating all the possible
causes and their magnitudes of polarization errors, all of which are not
necessarily verified by the polarization calibration. Based on these
error budgets, we conclude that a polarization sensitivity of 0.1% in
the line core, δ a<10% and Δ φ<2° can be achieved combined
with the polarization calibration of the spectro-polarimeter and the
onboard calibration at the Sun center(refer to Ishikawa et al. 2014,
for the detail). <P />We are currently conducting verification tests
of the flight components and development of the UV light source for
the polarization calibration. From 2014 spring, we will begin the
integration, alignment, and calibration. We will update the error
budgets throughout the course of these tests.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: A Sounding Rocket Experiment for the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP)
Authors: Kubo, M.; Kano, R.; Kobayashi, K.; Bando, T.; Narukage, N.;
Ishikawa, R.; Tsuneta, S.; Katsukawa, Y.; Ishikawa, S.; Suematsu, Y.;
Hara, H.; Shimizu, T.; Sakao, T.; Ichimoto, K.; Goto, M.; Holloway,
T.; Winebarger, A.; Cirtain, J.; De Pontieu, B.; Casini, R.; Auchère,
F.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Manso Sainz, R.; Belluzzi, L.; Asensio Ramos,
A.; Štěpán, J.; Carlsson, M.
2014ASPC..489..307K Altcode:
A sounding-rocket experiment called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is presently under development to measure
the linear polarization profiles in the hydrogen Lyman-alpha (Lyα)
line at 121.567 nm. CLASP is a vacuum-UV (VUV) spectropolarimeter to aim
for first detection of the linear polarizations caused by scattering
processes and the Hanle effect in the Lyα line with high accuracy
(0.1%). This is a fist step for exploration of magnetic fields in
the upper chromosphere and transition region of the Sun. Accurate
measurements of the linear polarization signals caused by scattering
processes and the Hanle effect in strong UV lines like Lyα are
essential to explore with future solar telescopes the strength
and structures of the magnetic field in the upper chromosphere and
transition region of the Sun. The CLASP proposal has been accepted by
NASA in 2012, and the flight is planned in 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Current progress of optical alignment procedure of CLASP's
Lyman-alpha polarimetry instrument
Authors: Giono, G.; Ishikawa, R.; Katsukawa, Y.; Bando, T.; Kano, R.;
Suematsu, Y.; Narukage, N.; Sakao, Taro; Kobayashi, K.; Auchère, F.
2014SPIE.9144E..3EG Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a
sounding-rocket instrument currently under development at the
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) as a part of an
international collaboration. CLASP's optics are composed of a Cassegrain
telescope and a spectro-polarimeter which are designed to achieve an
unprecedentedly accurate polarization measurement of the Ly-α line
at 121.6nm emitted from the solar upper-chromosphere and transition
region. CLASP's first flight is scheduled for August 2015. Reaching
such accuracy requires a careful alignment of the optical elements
to optimize the image quality at 121.6 nm. However Ly-α is absorbed
by air and therefore the optics alignment has to be done under vacuum
condition which makes any experiment difficult. To bypass this issue,
we proposed to align the telescope and the spectrograph separately
in visible light. Hence we present our alignment procedure for both
telescope and spectro-polarimeter. We will explain details about the
telescope preliminary alignment before mirrors coating, which was done
in April 2014, present the telescope combined optical performance
and compare them to CLASP tolerance. Then we will present details
about an experiment designed to confirm our alignment procedure for
the CLASP spectro-polarimeter. We will discuss the resulting image
quality achieved during this experiment and the lessons learned.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Chromospheric Lyman-alpha spectro-polarimeter (CLASP)
Authors: Kano, Ryouhei; Katsukawa, Yukio; Kubo, Masahito; Auchere,
Frederic; Ishikawa, Ryohko; Kobayashi, Ken; Narukage, Noriyuki;
Trujillo Bueno, Javier; Bando, Takamasa; Ishikawa, Shin-nosuke
2014cosp...40E1383K Altcode:
In the solar chromosphere, magneto-hydrodynamic waves and super-sonic
jets ubiquitously happen as revealed by the Japanese solar satellite
Hinode. Now, we understand that the solar chromosphere is not a simple
intermediate layer smoothly connecting the photosphere and corona,
but a site where those dynamics may play an important role in the
chromospheric and coronal heating. Such discoveries imply that the
next frontier in solar physics lies in simultaneous observations
between the dynamics and magnetic structures in the chromosphere and
transition region, where the gas-dominant photosphere changes to the
magnetic-dominant corona. Therefore, we promote the Chromospheric
Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP), which is a NASA's sounding
rocket experiment scheduled in 2015 for aiming to infer the magnetic
field information in the solar chromosphere and transition region. CLASP
makes precise measurement (0.1%) of the polarization profile of the
Lyman-alpha line, and aims to make the first ever measurement of the
Hanle effect polarization caused by magnetic fields in the upper solar
atmosphere. It is also a pathfinder to establish a new measurement
tool for chromospheric and transition-region magnetic fields, and to
make progress on chromospheric studies in future missions.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: UV spectropolarimeter design for precise polarization
measurement and its application to the CLASP for exploration of
magnetic fields in solar atmosphere
Authors: Narukage, Noriyuki; Katsukawa, Yukio; Hara, Hirohisa; Kubo,
Masahito; Auchere, Frederic; Ishikawa, Ryohko; Kano, Ryouhei; Bando,
Takamasa; Ishikawa, Shin-nosuke; Suematsu, Yoshinori; Tsuneta, Saku
2014cosp...40E2232N Altcode:
In order to measure the magnetic field in the region where the
hot plasma from 10 (4) K to 10 (6) K is occupied, e.g., for solar
atmosphere, the polarimetric measurements in ultra violet (UV)
with 0.1% accuracy are required. In this paper, we propose a new
UV spectropolarimeter design with 0.1% sensitivity in polarization
measurement. This spectropolarimeter has two devices for the 0.1%
accuracy. First, all optical components except the waveplate are the
reflective type ones that can be equipped with the high reflectivity
coating for the high throughput. Secondly, it equips the optically
symmetric dual channels to measure the orthogonal linear polarization
state simultaneously, using a concave diffraction grating as both the
spectral dispersion element and the beam splitter. These two devices
make the spurious polarizations caused by the photon noise, by the
intensity variation of the observation target, and, by the instrument
itself, enough small to achieve the 0.1% accuracy in polarization
measurement. The spectropolarimeter thus designed is currently under
fabrication for the sounding rocket project of Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP) that aims at the direct measurement of the
magnetic fields in solar atmosphere with Lyman-alpha line (121.6 nm)
for the first time.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Chromospheric Lyman Alpha SpectroPolarimeter: CLASP
Authors: Kobayashi, Ken; Kano, R.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Winebarger,
A. R.; Cirtain, J. W.; Bando, T.; De Pontieu, B.; Ishikawa, R.;
Katsukawa, Y.; Kubo, M.; Narukage, N.; Sakao, T.; Tsuneta, S.;
Auchère, F.; Asensio Ramos, A.; Belluzzi, L.; Carlsson, M.; Casini,
R.; Hara, H.; Ichimoto, K.; Manso Sainz, R.; Shimizu, T.; Stepan,
J.; Suematsu, Y.; Holloway, T.
2013SPD....44..142K Altcode:
The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a VUV
spectropolarimeter optimized for measuring the linear polarization of
the Lyman-alpha line (121.6 nm). The Lyman-alpha line is predicted to
show linear polarization caused by atomic scattering in the chromosphere
and modified by the magnetic field through the Hanle effect. The
Hanle effect is sensitive to weaker magnetic fields than Zeeman
effect, and is not canceled by opposing fields, making it sensitive
to tangled or unresolved magnetic field structures. These factors make
the Hanle effect a valuable tool for probing the magnetic field in the
chromosphere above the quiet sun. To meet this goal, CLASP is designed
to measure linear polarization with 0.1% polarization sensitivity
at 0.01 nm spectral resolution and 10" spatial resolution. CLASP is
scheduled to be launched in 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Chromospheric Lyman-alpha spectro-polarimeter (CLASP)
Authors: Kano, Ryouhei; Bando, Takamasa; Narukage, Noriyuki; Ishikawa,
Ryoko; Tsuneta, Saku; Katsukawa, Yukio; Kubo, Masahito; Ishikawa,
Shin-nosuke; Hara, Hirohisa; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Suematsu, Yoshinori;
Ichimoto, Kiyoshi; Sakao, Taro; Goto, Motoshi; Kato, Yoshiaki; Imada,
Shinsuke; Kobayashi, Ken; Holloway, Todd; Winebarger, Amy; Cirtain,
Jonathan; De Pontieu, Bart; Casini, Roberto; Trujillo Bueno, Javier;
Štepán, Jiří; Manso Sainz, Rafael; Belluzzi, Luca; Asensio Ramos,
Andres; Auchère, Frédéric; Carlsson, Mats
2012SPIE.8443E..4FK Altcode:
One of the biggest challenges in heliophysics is to decipher the
magnetic structure of the solar chromosphere. The importance of
measuring the chromospheric magnetic field is due to both the key role
the chromosphere plays in energizing and structuring the outer solar
atmosphere and the inability of extrapolation of photospheric fields to
adequately describe this key boundary region. Over the last few years,
significant progress has been made in the spectral line formation
of UV lines as well as the MHD modeling of the solar atmosphere. It
is found that the Hanle effect in the Lyman-alpha line (121.567 nm)
is a most promising diagnostic tool for weaker magnetic fields in
the chromosphere and transition region. Based on this groundbreaking
research, we propose the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter
(CLASP) to NASA as a sounding rocket experiment, for making the first
measurement of the linear polarization produced by scattering processes
and the Hanle effect in the Lyman-alpha line (121.567 nm), and making
the first exploration of the magnetic field in the upper chromosphere
and transition region of the Sun. The CLASP instrument consists
of a Cassegrain telescope, a rotating 1/2-wave plate, a dual-beam
spectrograph assembly with a grating working as a beam splitter, and
an identical pair of reflective polarization analyzers each equipped
with a CCD camera. We propose to launch CLASP in December 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter: CLASP
Authors: Kobayashi, K.; Kano, R.; Trujillo-Bueno, J.; Asensio Ramos,
A.; Bando, T.; Belluzzi, L.; Carlsson, M.; De Pontieu, R. C. B.; Hara,
H.; Ichimoto, K.; Ishikawa, R.; Katsukawa, Y.; Kubo, M.; Manso Sainz,
R.; Narukage, N.; Sakao, T.; Stepan, J.; Suematsu, Y.; Tsuneta, S.;
Watanabe, H.; Winebarger, A.
2012ASPC..456..233K Altcode:
The magnetic field plays a crucial role in the chromosphere and the
transition region, and our poor empirical knowledge of the magnetic
field in the upper chromosphere and transition region is a major
impediment to advancing the understanding of the solar atmosphere. The
Hanle effect promises to be a valuable alternative to Zeeman effect
as a method of measuring the magnetic field in the chromosphere and
transition region; it is sensitive to weaker magnetic fields, and
also sensitive to tangled, unresolved field structures. <P />CLASP
is a sounding rocket experiment that aims to observe the Hanle effect
polarization of the Lyman α (1215.67Å) line in the solar chromosphere
and transition region, and prove the usefulness of this technique in
placing constraints on the magnetic field strength and orientation
in the low plasma-β region of the solar atmosphere. The Ly-α line
has been chosen because it is a chromospheric/transition-region line,
and because the Hanle effect polarization of this line is predicted to
be sensitive to 10-250 Gauss, encompassing the range of interest. The
CLASP instrument is designed to measure linear polarization in the
Ly-α line with a polarization sensitivity of 0.1%. The instrument is
currently funded for development. The optical design of the instrument
has been finalized, and an extensive series of component-level tests
are underway to validate the design.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Ly-alpha polarimeter design for CLASP rocket experiment
Authors: Kubo, M.; Watanabe, H.; Narukage, N.; Ishikawa, R.; Bando,
T.; Kano, R.; Tsuneta, S.; Kobayashi, K.; Ichimoto, K.; Trujillo Bueno,
J.; Song, D.
2011AGUFM.P11F1627K Altcode:
A sounding-rocket program called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is proposed to be launched in the Summer
of 2014. CLASP will observe the upper solar chromosphere in Ly-alpha
(121.567 nm), aiming to detect the linear polarization signal produced
by scattering processes and the Hanle effect for the first time. The
CLASP needs a rotating half-waveplate and a polarization analyzer
working at the Ly-alpha wavelength to measure the linear polarization
signal. We select Magnesium Fluoride (MgF2) as a material of the
optical components because of its birefringent property and high
transparency at UV wavelength. We have confirmed that the reflection
at the Brewster's Angle of MgF2 plate is a good polarization analyzer
for the Ly-alpha line by deriving its ordinary refractive index and
extinction coefficient along the ordinary and extraordinary axes. These
optical parameters are calculated with a least-square fitting in such a
way that the reflectance and transmittance satisfy the Kramers-Kronig
relation. The reflectance and transmittance against oblique incident
angles for the s-polarized and the p-polarized light are measured
using the synchrotron beamline at the Ultraviolet Synchrotron Orbital
Radiation Facility (UVSOR). We have also measured a retardation of
a zeroth-order waveplate made of MgF2. The thickness difference of
the waveplate is 14.57 um.This waveplate works as a half-waveplate at
121.74 nm. From this measurement, we estimate that a waveplate with
the thickness difference of 15.71 um will work as a half-waveplate
at the Ly-alpha wavelength. We have developed a rotating waveplate -
polarization analyzer system called a prototype of CLASP polarimeter,
and input the perfect Stokes Q and U signals. The modulation patterns
that are consistent with the theoretical prediction are successfully
obtained in both cases.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP)j
Authors: Kobayashi, K.; Tsuneta, S.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Bando, T.;
Belluzzi, L.; Casini, R.; Carlsson, M.; Cirtain, J. W.; De Pontieu,
B.; Hara, H.; Ichimoto, K.; Ishikawa, R.; Kano, R.; Katsukawa, Y.;
Kim, T.; Kubo, M.; Manso Sainz, R.; Narukage, N.; Asensio Ramos,
A.; Robinson, B.; Sakao, T.; Shimizu, T.; Stepan, J.; Suematsu, Y.;
Watanabe, H.; West, E.; Winebarger, A. R.
2011AGUFM.P14C..05K Altcode:
We present an overview of the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP) program. CLASP is a proposed sounding rocket
experiment currently under development as collaboration between Japan,
USA and Spain. The aim is to achieve the first measurement of magnetic
field in the upper chromosphere and transition region of the Sun
through the detection and measurement of Hanle effect polarization
of the Lyman alpha line. The Hanle effect (i.e. the magnetic field
induced modification of the linear polarization due to scattering
processes in spectral lines) is believed to be a powerful tool for
measuring the magnetic field in the upper chromosphere, as it is more
sensitive to weaker magnetic fields than the Zeeman effect, and also
sensitive to magnetic fields tangled at spatial scales too small to be
resolved. The Lyman-alpha (121.567 nm) line has been chosen because
it is a chromospheric/transition-region line, and because the Hanle
effect polarization of the Lyman-alpha line is predicted to be sensitive
to 10-250 Gauss, encompassing the range of interest. Hanle effect is
predicted to be observable as linear polarization or depolarization,
depending on the geometry, with a fractional polarization amplitude
varying between 0.1% and 1% depending on the strength and orientation of
the magnetic field. This quantification of the chromospheric magnetic
field requires a highly sensitive polarization measurement. The
CLASP instrument consists of a large aperture (287 mm) Cassegrain
telescope mated to a polarizing beamsplitter and a matched pair
of grating spectrographs. The polarizing beamsplitter consists
of a continuously rotating waveplate and a linear beamsplitter,
allowing simultaneous measurement of orthogonal polarizations and
in-flight self-calibration. Development of the instrument is underway,
and prototypes of all optical components have been tested using a
synchrotron beamline. The experiment is proposed for flight in 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Ly-alpha polarimeter design for CLASP rocket experiment
Authors: Watanabe, H.; Narukage, N.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, R.; Bando, T.;
Kano, R.; Tsuneta, S.; Kobayashi, K.; Ichimoto, K.; Trujillo-Bueno, J.
2011SPIE.8148E..0TW Altcode: 2011SPIE.8148E..25W; 2014arXiv1407.4577W
A sounding-rocket program called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha
Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is proposed to be launched in the summer of
2014. CLASP will observe the solar chromosphere in Ly-alpha (121.567
nm), aiming to detect the linear polarization signal produced by
scattering processes and the Hanle effect for the first time. The
polarimeter of CLASP consists of a rotating half-waveplate, a beam
splitter, and a polarization analyzer. Magnesium Fluoride (MgF2) is
used for these optical components, because MgF2 exhibits birefringent
property and high transparency at ultraviolet wavelength. The
development and comprehensive testing program of the optical components
of the polarimeter is underway using the synchrotron beamline at the
Ultraviolet Synchrotron Orbital Radiation Facility (UVSOR). The first
objective is deriving the optical constants of MgF2 by the measurement
of the reflectance and transmittance against oblique incident angles
for the s-polarized and the p-polarized light. The ordinary refractive
index and extinction coefficient along the ordinary and extraordinary
axes are derived with a least-square fitting in such a way that the
reflectance and transmittance satisfy the Kramers-Krönig relation. The
reflection at the Brewster's Angle of MgF2 plate is confirmed to become
a good polarization analyzer at Ly-alpha. The second objective is the
retardation measurement of a zeroth-order waveplate made of MgF2. The
retardation of a waveplate is determined by observing the modulation
amplitude that comes out of a waveplate and a polarization analyzer. We
tested a waveplate with the thickness difference of 14.57 um. The 14.57
um waveplate worked as a half-waveplate at 121.74 nm. We derived that
a waveplate with the thickness difference of 15.71 um will work as a
half-waveplate at Ly-alpha wavelength. We developed a prototype of CLASP
polarimeter using the MgF2 half-waveplate and polarization analyzers,
and succeeded in obtaining the modulation patterns that are consistent
with the theoretical prediction. We confirm that the performance of
the prototype is optimized for measuring linear polarization signal
with the least effect of the crosstalk from the circular polarization.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Overview of Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter
(CLASP)
Authors: Narukage, Noriyuki; Tsuneta, Saku; Bando, Takamasa; Kano,
Ryouhei; Kubo, Masahito; Ishikawa, Ryoko; Hara, Hirohisa; Suematsu,
Yoshinori; Katsukawa, Yukio; Watanabe, Hiroko; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi;
Sakao, Taro; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Kobayashi, Ken; Robinson, Brian; Kim,
Tony; Winebarger, Amy; West, Edward; Cirtain, Jonathan; De Pontieu,
Bart; Casini, Roberto; Trujillo Bueno, Javier; Stepan, Jiri; Manso
Sainz, Rafael; Belluzzi, Luca; Asensio Ramos, Andres; Carlsson, Mats
2011SPIE.8148E..0HN Altcode: 2011SPIE.8148E..16N
The solar chromosphere is an important boundary, through which all of
the plasma, magnetic fields and energy in the corona and solar wind
are supplied. Since the Zeeman splitting is typically smaller than
the Doppler line broadening in the chromosphere and transition region,
it is not effective to explore weak magnetic fields. However, this is
not the case for the Hanle effect, when we have an instrument with
high polarization sensitivity (~ 0.1%). "Chromospheric Lyman- Alpha
SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP)" is the sounding rocket experiment to detect
linear polarization produced by the Hanle effect in Lyman-alpha line
(121.567 nm) and to make the first direct measurement of magnetic
fields in the upper chromosphere and lower transition region. To
achieve the high sensitivity of ~ 0.1% within a rocket flight (5
minutes) in Lyman-alpha line, which is easily absorbed by materials,
we design the optical system mainly with reflections. The CLASP
consists of a classical Cassegrain telescope, a polarimeter and a
spectrometer. The polarimeter consists of a rotating 1/2-wave plate
and two reflecting polarization analyzers. One of the analyzer also
works as a polarization beam splitter to give us two orthogonal linear
polarizations simultaneously. The CLASP is planned to be launched in
2014 summer.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: A Sounding Rocket Experiment for Spectropolarimetric
Observations with the Ly<SUB>α</SUB> Line at 121.6 nm (CLASP)
Authors: Ishikawa, R.; Bando, T.; Fujimura, D.; Hara, H.; Kano,
R.; Kobiki, T.; Narukage, N.; Tsuneta, S.; Ueda, K.; Wantanabe,
H.; Kobayashi, K.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Manso Sainz, R.; Stepan, J.;
de Pontieu, B.; Carlsson, M.; Casini, R.
2011ASPC..437..287I Altcode:
A team consisting of Japan, USA, Spain, and Norway is developing a
high-throughput Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP),
which is proposed to fly with a NASA sounding rocket in 2014. CLASP will
explore the magnetism of the upper solar chromosphere and transition
region via the Hanle effect of the Ly<SUB>α</SUB> line for the first
time. This experiment requires spectropolarimetric observations with
high polarimetric sensitivity (∼0.1%) and wavelength resolution
(0.1 Å). The final spatial resolution (slit width) is being discussed
taking into account the required high signal-to-noise ratio. We have
demonstrated the performance of the Ly<SUB>α</SUB> polarimeter by
extensively using the Ultraviolet Synchrotron ORbital Radiation Facility
(UVSOR) at the Institute for Molecular Sciences. In this contribution,
we report these measurements at UVSOR together with the current status
of the CLASP project.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Coronal-Temperature-Diagnostic Capability of the Hinode/
X-Ray Telescope Based on Self-Consistent Calibration
Authors: Narukage, N.; Sakao, T.; Kano, R.; Hara, H.; Shimojo, M.;
Bando, T.; Urayama, F.; DeLuca, E.; Golub, L.; Weber, M.; Grigis,
P.; Cirtain, J.; Tsuneta, S.
2011SoPh..269..169N Altcode: 2010arXiv1011.2867N; 2011SoPh..tmp....1N
The X-Ray Telescope (XRT) onboard the Hinode satellite is an X-ray
imager that observes the solar corona with unprecedentedly high angular
resolution (consistent with its 1″ pixel size). XRT has nine X-ray
analysis filters with different temperature responses. One of the most
significant scientific features of this telescope is its capability
of diagnosing coronal temperatures from less than 1 MK to more than
10 MK, which has never been accomplished before. To make full use
of this capability, accurate calibration of the coronal temperature
response of XRT is indispensable and is presented in this article. The
effect of on-orbit contamination is also taken into account in the
calibration. On the basis of our calibration results, we review the
coronal-temperature-diagnostic capability of XRT.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: The Chromospheric Lyman Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP)
Authors: Kobayashi, K.; Tsuneta, S.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Cirtain,
J. W.; Bando, T.; Kano, R.; Hara, H.; Fujimura, D.; Ueda, K.; Ishikawa,
R.; Watanabe, H.; Ichimoto, K.; Sakao, T.; de Pontieu, B.; Carlsson,
M.; Casini, R.
2010AGUFMSH11B1632K Altcode:
Magnetic fields in the solar chromosphere play a key role in the
energy transfer and dynamics of the solar atmosphere. Yet a direct
observation of the chromospheric magnetic field remains one of the
greatest challenges in solar physics. While some advances have been
made for observing the Zeeman effect in strong chromospheric lines,
the effect is small and difficult to detect outside sunspots. The
Hanle effect offers a promising alternative; it is sensitive to weaker
magnetic fields (e.g., 5-500 G for Ly-Alpha), and while its magnitude
saturates at stronger magnetic fields, the linear polarization signals
remain sensitive to the magnetic field orientation. The Hanle effect
is not only limited to off-limb observations. Because the chromosphere
is illuminated by an anisotropic radiation field, the Ly-Alpha line is
predicted to show linear polarization for on-disk, near-limb regions,
and magnetic field is predicted to cause a measurable depolarization. At
disk center, the Ly-Alpha radiation is predicted to be negligible
in the absence of magnetic field, and linearly polarized to an order
of 0.3% in the presence of an inclined magnetic field. The proposed
CLASP sounding rocket instrument is designed to detect 0.3% linear
polarization of the Ly-Alpha line at 1.5 arcsecond spatial resolution
(0.7’’ pixel size) and 10 pm spectral resolution. The instrument
consists of a 30 cm aperture Cassegrain telescope and a dual-beam
spectropolarimeter. The telescope employs a “cold mirror’’ design
that uses multilayer coatings to reflect only the target wavelength
range into the spectropolarimeter. The polarization analyzer consists of
a rotating waveplate and a polarizing beamsplitter that comprises MgF2
plates placed at Brewster’s Angle. Each output beam of the polarizing
beamsplitter, representing two orthogonal linear polarizations, is
dispersed and focused using a separate spherical varied-line-space
grating, and imaged with a separate 512x512 CCD camera. Prototypes
of key optical components have been fabricated and tested. Instrument
design is being finalized, and the experiment will be proposed for a
2014 flight aboard a NASA sounding rocket.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: EUV Solar Instrument Development at the Marshall Space
Flight Center
Authors: Kobayashi, K.; Cirtain, J. W.; Davis, J. M.; West, E.; Golub,
L.; Korreck, K. E.; Tsuneta, S.; Bando, T.
2009AGUFMSH33B1500K Altcode:
The three sounding rocket instrument programs currently underway at
the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center represent major advances in solar
observations, made possible by improvements in EUV optics and detector
technology. The Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Instrument (SUMI) is an
EUV spectropolarimeter designed to measure the Zeeman splitting of two
chromospheric EUV lines, the 280 nm MgII and 155 nm CIV lines. SUMI
directly observes the magnetic field in the low-beta region where
most energetic phenomena are though to originate. In conjunction with
visible-light magnetographs, this observation allows us to track the
evolution of the magnetic field as it evolves from the photosphere to
the upper chromosphere. SUMI incorporates a normal incidence Cassegrain
telescope, a MgF2 double-Wollaston polarizing beam splitter and two TVLS
(toroidal varied line space) gratings, and is capable of observing two
orthogonal polarizations in two wavelength bands simultaneously. SUMI
has been fully assembled and tested, and currently scheduled for
launch in summer of 2010. The High-resolution Coronal Imager is a
normal-incidence EUV imaging telescope designed to achieve 0.2 arcsecond
resolution, with a pixel size of 0.1 arcsecond. This is a factor of
25 improvement in aerial resolution over the Transition Region And
Coronal Explorer (TRACE). Images obtained by TRACE indicate presence of
unresolved structures; higher resolution images will reveal the scale
and topology of structures that make up the corona. The telescope
mirrors are currently being fabricated, and the instrument has been
funded for flight. In addition, a Lyman alpha spectropolarimeter is
under development in collaboration with the National Astronomical
Observatory of Japan. This aims to detect the linear polarization in
the chromosphere caused by the Hanle effect. Horizontal magnetic fields
in the chromosphere are expected to be detectable as polarization near
disk center, and off-limb observations will reveal the magnetic field
structure of filaments and prominences. Laboratory tests of candidate
optical components are currently underway.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Vertical Temperature Structures of the Solar Corona Derived
with the Hinode X-Ray Telescope
Authors: Kano, Ryouhei; Sakao, Taro; Narukage, Noriyuki; Tsuneta,
Saku; Kotoku, Jun'ichi; Bando, Takamasa; Deluca, Edward; Lundquist,
Loraine; Golub, Leon; Hara, Hirohisa; Matsuzaki, Keiichi; Shimojo,
Masumi; Shibasaki, Kiyoto; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Nakatani, Ichiro
2008PASJ...60..827K Altcode:
We obtained temperature structures in faint coronal features
above and near the solar limb with the X-Ray Telescope aboard the
Hinode satellite by accurately correcting the scattered X-rays
from surrounding bright regions with occulted images during
the solar eclipses. Our analysis yields a polar coronal hole
temperature of about 1.0MK and an emission measure in the range of
10<SUP>25.5</SUP>-10<SUP>26.0</SUP>cm<SUP>-5</SUP>. In addition,
our methods allow us to measure the temperature and emission
measure of two distinct quiet-Sun structures: radial (plume-like)
structures near the boundary of the coronal-hole and diffuse quiet
Sun regions at mid-latitudes. The radial structures appear to have
increasing temperature with height during the first 100Mm, and
constant temperatures above 100Mm. For the diffuse quiet-Sun region
the temperatures are the highest just above the limb, and appear
to decrease with height. These differences may be due to different
magnetic configurations.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Molecular Contamination Assessments on
<i>Hinode</i> X-Ray Telescope
Authors: Urayama, Fumitaka; Bando, Takamasa; Kano, Ryouhei; Hara,
Hirohisa; Narukage, Noriyuki; Sakao, Taro
2008JSASS..56..536U Altcode:
The <i>Hinode</i> (Solar-B) was launched by M-V rocket on 22
September 2006 UT. The telemetry data of the <i>Hinode</i>
X-ray Telescope (XRT) showed that the X-ray count rate detected with
the XRT had decreased rapidly since the operational heaters on the
XRT telescope tube were turned on. This is attributed to the fact that
molecular contaminants accumulated onto the CCD with the temperature
of -60ºC resulting in the degradation of the XRT sensitivity. We baked
the CCD at the temperature of 35ºC in order to remove the contaminants
from the CCD surface. However many contaminant spots appeared on the
surface. We found that major contaminant source existed in the telescope
tube, and identified the contaminants as diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)
or DEHP-like organics. The mechanisms to yield the contaminant spots
were discussed.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Continuous Plasma Outflows from the Edge of a Solar Active
Region as a Possible Source of Solar Wind
Authors: Sakao, Taro; Kano, Ryouhei; Narukage, Noriyuki; Kotoku,
Jun'ichi; Bando, Takamasa; DeLuca, Edward E.; Lundquist, Loraine L.;
Tsuneta, Saku; Harra, Louise K.; Katsukawa, Yukio; Kubo, Masahito;
Hara, Hirohisa; Matsuzaki, Keiichi; Shimojo, Masumi; Bookbinder, Jay
A.; Golub, Leon; Korreck, Kelly E.; Su, Yingna; Shibasaki, Kiyoto;
Shimizu, Toshifumi; Nakatani, Ichiro
2007Sci...318.1585S Altcode:
The Sun continuously expels a huge amount of ionized material into
interplanetary space as the solar wind. Despite its influence on the
heliospheric environment, the origin of the solar wind has yet to
be well identified. In this paper, we report Hinode X-ray Telescope
observations of a solar active region. At the edge of the active region,
located adjacent to a coronal hole, a pattern of continuous outflow of
soft-x-ray emitting plasmas was identified emanating along apparently
open magnetic field lines and into the upper corona. Estimates of
temperature and density for the outflowing plasmas suggest a mass
loss rate that amounts to ~1/4 of the total mass loss rate of the
solar wind. These outflows may be indicative of one of the solar wind
sources at the Sun.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Continuous Upflow of Plasmas at the Edge of an Active Region
as Revealed by the X-ray Telescope (XRT) aboard Hinode
Authors: Sakao, Taro; Kano, R.; Narukage, N.; Kotoku, J.; Bando, T.;
DeLuca, E. E.; Lundquist, L. L.; Golub, L.; Kubo, M.; Katsukawa, Y.;
Tsuneta, S.; Hara, H.; Matsuzaki, K.; Shimojo, M.; Shibasaki, K.;
Shimizu, T.; Nakatani, I.
2007AAS...210.7205S Altcode: 2007BAAS...39Q.179S
We present X-ray imaging observations with Hinode X-Ray Telescope (XRT)
of an active region NOAA AR 10942 made in the period of 20-22 February
2007. A prominent feature that drew our particular attention is that
there revealed continuous upflow of soft-X-ray-emitting plasmas along
apparently-open field lines towards the outer corona emanating from the
edge of the active region. <P />The field lines are originated from
an ensamble of small spots of following polarity, and are located at
a border between the active region and an adjacent equatorial coronal
hole(s) located to the east. The upflow was observed to be continuous
throughout the three days of observation intervals with projected
velocity of 140 km/s, accompanied with undulating motion of the field
lines. <P />We assert that these upflowing plasmas would be a possible
source of slow solar wind material, which supports a foresighted
notion which grew out of interplanetary scintillation observations
that slow solar wind most likely has its origin in the vicinity of
active regions with large flux expansion (Kojima et al. 1999). <P />A
preliminaty analysis indicates that the temperature of the upflowing
material near the base of the field lines is 1.3 MK with number density
of 2 × 10<SUP>9 </SUP>/cm<SUP>3</SUP>. Assuming that all the material
is to escape to the interplanetary space, this leads to a mass loss
rate of 2 × 10<SUP>11</SUP> g/s which amounts to a good fraction of
the total mass loss rate for solar wind. It is noteworthy that, even
apart from this unique upflow, we see continuous (up)flows of plasmas
anywhere around (surrounding) the active region. <P />Details of the
upflow will be presented and their possible implication to slow solar
wind discussed.
---------------------------------------------------------
Title: Temperature Structures Above Coronal Hole and Quiet Sun
Authors: Kano, Ryouhei; Sakao, T.; Narukage, N.; Kotoku, J.; Bando,
T.; DeLuca, E. E.; Lundquist, L.; Golub, L.; Tsuneta, S.; Hara, H.;
Shibasaki, K.; Shimojo, M.
2007AAS...210.9436K Altcode: 2007BAAS...39..223K
The X-ray Telescope (XRT) on board Hinode satelite has the capability
to derive the temperature structure in the solar corona. We present
the hieght dependence of the temperature above the limb. Because X-ray
intensity above the limb is so faint, it is important to estimate the
scattered light from disk corona. The eclipses happened on February 17
and March 19 in 2007 at Hinode orbit. On February 17, we took X-ray
images above the south polar coronal hole, while Moon passed it. On
March 19, we took the data for quiet Sun in the same way. <P />We
can estimated the scattered light from the eclipse data, and derived
the scatter-free X-ray images above the solar limb. In this meeting,
we will present the temperatures above coronal hole and quiet Sun,
based on the eclipse data.
