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Dynamics of the photosphere and chromosphere

The motions of the surface plasma of the Sun are a possible source of excitation for the Alfvén waves that, propagating through the chromosphere towards the corona, contribute to the heating of the upper layers of the solar atmosphere via the dissipation of the energy
they carry. In recent years there has also been a gradual re-evaluation of the role of the chromosphere as a fundamental interface region between the photosphere, where surface convection dominates and drives the structure of the magnetic field, and the corona, where the magnetic field determines the structure of the plasma in an essentially "force free" situation. In the field of photospheric and chromospheric studies the community of solar physicists has proposed the construction of the first Italian heliospheric mission (ADAHELI – ADvanced Astronomy for HELIophysics), with the feasibility study financed by ASI and currently awaiting funding for the successive phases. In this area, the ISODY instrument has been proposed, composed of a 40 cm Gregorian telescope and a focalplane suite, including a spectropolarimetric channel for the observation of photospheric and chromospheric lines using a double Fabry-Perot interferometer, a broad-band channel and an image stabilising system.

Lake Como Schools on Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitation

Jul 08, 2025

Lake Como Schools on Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitation It has been held at Como – Villa del Grumello, 23-27 June, the 2025 edition of the “Lake Como Schools on Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitation” on the theme “Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Cosmological Tensions”

The Lucchin Schools Return

Jun 01, 2025

The Lucchin Schools Return First Edition of the New INAF PhD School Series Concludes in Asiago

MISTRAL, a wind of change in the SRT observations

May 29, 2025

MISTRAL, a wind of change in the SRT observations MISTRAL is a new-generation receiver for observations at millimeter wavelengths, built as part of the recent project to upgrade the Sardinia Radio Telescope for the study of the high-frequency radio universe. The main features of this instrument are the very high number of detectors cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero and a dedicated cold optical system, which allow for extremely sharp images. MISTRAL made its “first light” by observing three different celestial objects: the Orion Nebula, the radio lobes of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87, and the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. These images represent the first scientific observations at 90 GHz ever obtained using the SRT