High Resolution Studies of the Sun Using the New Solar Telescope (NST)

首席调查员(PI)和他的团队指出，大熊太阳天文台(BBSO)的新太阳望远镜(NST)及其先进的自适应光学系统将在未来十年的大部分时间内成为美国对太阳进行高分辨率地面研究的主要观测设施。这个BBSO团队将利用NST从0.4-5.0微米的光谱范围收集的光度和偏振数据，以及可见光和近红外光的衍射限制成像和矢量磁图(VMGs)，来完成太阳物理的尖端研究。在其他科学课题中，Pi的团队将利用对等离子体流动和矢量磁场随海拔变化的高分辨率NST观测，研究太阳大气中超细磁环的起源，以及沿这些环的等离子体喷发。该团队将比较线条轮廓数据和模拟输出，以探索这些环路动态的物理起源。PI还将对安静的太阳大气进行亚角秒分辨率的研究，以探测小规模的新兴通量、太阳的“磁毯”和本地发电机，同时利用NST VMG和速度图以及模拟。该团队的科学目标还包括利用VMGs和速度场作为海拔的函数来调查太阳黑子的小尺度结构和动力学，以阐明太阳黑子元素的形成和演化，如“本影点”、“全区流”和半暗带结构。PI还将使用NST的全低温太阳光谱仪Cyra探测太阳光球层和色球的动力学，如磁网络、针状物和冷色球区。Cyra将在1-5微米的光谱范围内进行观测，到目前为止，这一区域还没有得到很好的开发。Pi的团队还计划将NST作为一个独特的测试平台，用于硬件、仪器和数据分析，预计将在十年后上线的新的离轴4米先进技术太阳望远镜(ATST)。BBSO将为NST开发下一代太阳仪器，这将成为ATST项目的重要探路者。作为一个社区设施，BBSO将帮助培训下一代科学家，以综合方式进行研究和教育，以建造仪器和开发现代数据分析技术。BBSO的高分辨率数据，加上分析工具，将有助于增加我们对空间天气事件起源的理解，并改善空间天气预报。NST数据将在网上公开，并通过太阳物理界的虚拟太阳天文台基础设施近乎实时地提供。

The Principal Investigator (PI) and his team note that the New Solar Telescope (NST) of Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO), with its advanced adaptive optics system, will be the primary US observing facility for ground-based high-resolution studies of the Sun for most of the next decade. This BBSO team will utilize NST photometric and polarimetric data collected across the spectrum from 0.4-5.0 microns, as well as diffraction limited imaging and vector magnetograms (VMGs) in visible and near-infrared light, to accomplish cutting-edge research in solar physics. Among other science topics, the PI's team will study the origin of ultrafine magnetic loops in the solar atmosphere, as well as plasma eruptions along these loops, using high-resolution NST observations of plasma flows and vector magnetic fields as a function of altitude. The team will compare line profile data to simulation output to probe the physical origin of the dynamics of these loops. The PI will also perform sub-arcsecond resolution studies of the quiet solar atmosphere to probe small-scale emerging flux, the Sun's "magnetic carpet," and the local dynamo while exploiting NST VMGs and velocity maps along with simulations. The team's science objectives also include the investigation of the small-scale structure and dynamics of sunspots, using VMGs and velocity fields as a function of altitude, to clarify the formation and evolution of sunspot elements, such as "umbral dots," Evershed flows, and penumbral structures. The PI will also probe solar photospheric and chromospheric dynamics, such as the magnetic network, spicules, and cool chromospheric areas, using the NST's fully cryogenic solar spectrograph known as CYRA. CYRA will observe in the 1-5 micron spectral regime, which heretofore has not been well explored.The PI's team also plans to use the NST as a unique test bed for the hardware, instrumentation, and data analysis destined for use with the new off-axis, 4-meter Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) expected to come online at decade's end. BBSO will develop the next generation of solar instrumentation for the NST, which will serve as important pathfinders for the ATST project. As a community facility, BBSO will help train the next generation of scientists for building instruments and developing modern data analysis techniques, in an integrated approach to research and education. BBSO's high-resolution data, coupled with analytical tools, will help increase our understanding of the origins of space weather events and improve space weather forecasts. NST data will be made publicly available online and through the solar physics community's Virtual Solar Observatory infrastructure in near real-time.