New Windows onto the Sun: Probing the Sun’s magnetic field with an array of new missions and observatories

Introduction

The Sun provides the energy necessary to sustain life on Earth, making it a star of unique importance for human society. It is also the only star whose surface we can resolve to reveal the richness of the complex processes acting there, creating a highly dynamic and varied environment.

Magnetic Field Dynamics

Much of the structure and dynamics visible on the Sun is caused by the intricately structured magnetic field and its interaction with the turbulent plasma. However, there are considerable gaps in our knowledge of the fundamental physical processes driving the evolution of the solar magnetic field, from its generation to its removal from the solar surface, and how the field drives solar activity and variability.

New Observational Missions

To fill these gaps, this project will make use of powerful new observational missions and facilities:

1. Solar Orbiter
2. Sunrise III
3. Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)
4. Aditya-L1

These missions will open new windows onto the Sun and its magnetic field. They will provide the first clear views of the solar poles (Solar Orbiter) and the highest spatial resolution ever in the Extreme Ultraviolet (Solar Orbiter) and in the visible (DKIST). They will also explore a new spectral window onto the solar photosphere and chromosphere (Sunrise III, Aditya-L1).

Advanced Techniques

The advanced instrumentation, complemented by novel data analysis techniques and state-of-the-art magneto-hydrodynamic simulations, will allow tackling, often in entirely new ways, long-standing difficult problems that have resisted previous attempts at resolving them.

Insights into Solar Activity

Elucidating these will provide deep insights into the life cycle of the magnetic field and how it affects the Sun’s atmosphere and variability.

Research Team's Position

A decade’s efforts by me and my group have positioned us at the core of the new instrumentation, data analysis techniques, and simulations, making us very well placed to apply the exciting data from the new resources to unraveling the fundamental physics driving the evolution of the Sun’s magnetic field.