SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES

  • In combination with space and ground-based observations, H-alpha full disk observations of high temporal and spatial resolution have been proven to be a key diagnostic for determining the magnetic field topology between the photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona.
  • Continuous H-alpha network observations will ensure the tracking of features near the poles continuously. By this the accuracy of solar rotation rate measurements will be increased.
  • Studying prominences and corresponding filaments simultaneously provides deeper insight into their temporal evolution and their supporting magnetic field configuration.
  • Flares can occur anywhere and at any time on the solar disk. High resolution solar images with 24 hour coverage are essential to catch all the flares on the visible disk of the Sun.
  • High spatial resolution and cadence will allow to obtain a detailed picture of the evolution of flares as well as of the associated active regions.
  • Until now, H-alpha full disk images depicting solar flares were normally saturated because the exposure time was set to a constant value and optimized to yield high contrast images of the quiet Sun. The bright flaring regions were therefore over-exposed. Since the H-alpha intensity gives a minimum temperature for the flare region, it is important to obtain proper photometric data even when the full disk brightness is suddenly rising during a flare.
  • Monitoring every new flux emergence and try to understand why some become super-active regions and other decay quickly.
  • Providing high quality data for solar activity forecasting.
  • Providing complete data sets for correlative studies with other ground-based and space observations.
  • Observing and classifying all the flares and filament/prominence eruptions obtained by the network.
  • One of the ongoing research projects at BBSO is to understand the correlation between filament/prominence disappearance and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and to study their possible driving mechanisms. Round-the-clock high-resolution full disk H-alpha data are extremely important for this study, as CMEs may occur anywhere and at any time on the Sun.
  • Mini-filament eruptions are the small scale analog to large scale filament eruptions. The energy release and mass ejection of erupting mini-filaments is of particular importance since both can contribute to coronal heating and solar wind acceleration. With high contrast and high cadence H-alpha images the position and therefore the spatial distribution of mini-filaments as well as their temporal behavious is easy to measure.
  • Round-the-clock high-resolution H-alpha observations will be able to provide data with sufficient resolution and cadence to support the observing targets of space observations, anywhere on the face of the Sun and at any time.

HOME - Last modification: 06/07/2000 by Michael Steinegger