Development of Integral Field Spectrographs to Revolutionize Spectroscopic Observations of Solar Flares and other Energetic Solar Eruptions

Abstract

The Sun's proximity offers us a unique opportunity to study in detail the physical processes on a star's surface; however, the highly dynamic nature of the stellar surface -- in particular, energetic eruptions such as flares and coronal mass ejections -- presents tremendous observational challenges. Spectroscopy probes the physical state of the solar atmosphere, but conventional scanning spectrographs and spectrometers are unable to capture the full evolutionary history of these dynamic events with a sufficiently wide field of view and high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution. Resolving the physics of the dynamic sun requires gathering simultaneous spectra across a contiguous area over the full duration of these events, a goal now tantalizingly close to achievable with continued investment in developing powerful new Integral Field Spectrographs to serve as the foundation of both future ground- and space-based missions. This technology promises to revolutionize our ability to study solar flares and CMEs, addressing NASA's strategic objective to "understand the Sun, solar system, and universe." Since such events generate electromagnetic radiation and high-energy particles that disrupt terrestrial electric infrastructure, this investment not only advances humanity's scientific endeavors but also enhances our space weather forecasting capability to protect against threats to our technology-reliant civilization.

14 pages, 4 figures, White Paper submitted for 2022 Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) Decadal Survey

References in corpus (9)

• CRISP Spectropolarimetric Imaging of Penumbral Fine Structure
• The quest for stellar coronal mass ejections in late-type stars: I. Investigating Balmer-line asymmetries of single stars in Virtual Observatory data
• Spectral signatures of chromospheric condensation in a major solar flare
• Hydrogen Balmer Line Broadening in Solar and Stellar Flares
• Observational Test of Coronal Magnetic Field Models I. Comparison with Potential Field Model
• The Atmospheric Response to High Nonthermal Electron Beam Fluxes in Solar Flares. II. Hydrogen Broadening Predictions for Solar Flare Observations with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope
• Spectral Evidence for Heating at Large Column Mass in Umbral Solar Flare Kernels I: IRIS NUV Spectra of the X1 Solar Flare of 2014 Oct 25
• Hector - a new massively multiplexed IFS instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope
• Flare Ribbons Approach Observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the Solar Dynamics Observatory