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This report presents a comprehensive response to the United Nation's Interim Report on Governing Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Humanity. It emphasizes the transformative potential of AI in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while acknowledging the need for robust governance to mitigate associated risks. The response highlights opportunities for promoting equitable, secure, and inclusive AI ecosystems, which should be supported by investments in infrastructure and multi-stakeholder collaborations across jurisdictions. It also underscores challenges, including societal inequalities exacerbated by AI, ethical concerns, and environmental impacts. Recommendations advocate for legally binding norms, transparency, and multi-layered data governance models, alongside fostering AI literacy and capacity-building initiatives. Internationally, the report calls for harmonising AI governance frameworks with established laws, human rights standards, and regulatory approaches. The report concludes with actionable principles for fostering responsible AI governance through collaboration among governments, industry, academia, and civil society, ensuring the development of AI aligns with universal human values and the public good., Comment: Submitted to United Nations. 23 pages. All the Authors Contributed Equally

Solar pores are intense concentrations of magnetic flux that emerge through the Sun's photosphere. When compared to sunspots, they are much smaller in diameter and hence can be impacted and buffeted by neighbouring granular activity to generate significant magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave energy flux within their confines. However, observations of solar pores from ground-based telescope facilities may struggle to capture subtle motions synonymous with higher-order MHD wave signatures due to seeing effects produced in the Earth's atmosphere. Hence, we have exploited timely seeing-free and high-quality observations of four small magnetic pores from the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) on board the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Through acquisition of data under stable observing conditions, we have been able to measure the area fluctuations and horizontal displacements of the solar pores. Cross correlations between perturbations in intensity, area, line-of-sight velocity, and magnetic fields, coupled with the first-time application of novel Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) techniques on the boundary oscillations, provide a comprehensive diagnosis of the embedded MHD waves as sausage and kink modes. Additionally, the previously elusive m = 2 fluting mode is identified in the most magnetically isolated of the four pores. An important consideration lies in how the identified wave modes contribute towards the transfer of energy into the upper solar atmosphere. We find that the four pores examined have approximately 56%, 72%, 52%, and 34% of their total wave energy associated with the identified sausage modes, and around 23%, 17%, 39%, and 49% to their kink modes, respectively, while the first pore also has around an 11% contribution linked to the fluting mode. This study marks the first-time identification of concurrent sausage, kink, and fluting MHD wave modes in solar magnetic pores., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

"Objective: The electrocardiogram (ECG) is currently the most widely used recording to diagnose cardiac disorders, including the most common supraventricular arrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation (AF). However, different types of electrical disturbances, in which power-line interference (PLI) is a major problem, can mask and distort the original ECG morphology. This is a significant issue in the context of AF, because accurate characterization of fibrillatory waves (f-waves) is unavoidably required to improve current knowledge about its mechanisms. This work introduces a new algorithm able to reduce high levels of PLI and preserve, simultaneously, the original ECG morphology. Approach: The method is based on stationary wavelet transform shrinking and makes use of a new thresholding function designed to work successfully in a wide variety of scenarios. In fact, it has been validated in a general context with 48 ECG recordings obtained from pathological and non-pathological conditions, as well as in the particular context of AF, where 380 synthesized and 20 long-term real ECG recordings were analyzed. Main results: In both situations, the algorithm has reported a notably better performance than common methods designed for the same purpose. Moreover, its effectiveness has proven to be optimal for dealing with ECG recordings affected by AF, since f-waves remained almost intact after removing very high levels of noise. Significance: The proposed algorithm may facilitate a reliable characterization of the f-waves, preventing them from not being masked by the PLI nor distorted by an unsuitable filtering applied to ECG recordings with AF."

Surgical ablation (SA) is the most effective procedure to terminate atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients requiring concomitant open heart surgery. However, considering the great stress provoked in the patients heart, along with the benefits of anticipating antiarrhythmic therapeutical decisions, preoperative prediction of long term failure of the procedure is an interesting clinical challenge. Hence, the present work introduces a novel algorithm to anticipate SA outcome after one year of follow up by just analyzing the surface ECG. The method firstly extracts fibrillatory waves reflected on standard lead V1 using an adaptive QRST cancellation approach. The resulting signal is then segmented into 1 s length intervals and wavelet energy is computed for all of them. Finally, the coefficient of variation of the time series obtained for the 7th scale is computed. Analyzing 20 second length preoperative ECG excerpts from 53 persistent AF patients undergoing concomitant openheart surgery, only the proposed method reported statistically significant differences between the patients who relapsed to AF and those who maintained sinus rhythm during the follow up. The algorithm also provided values of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy between 10 and 20% better than the well established dominant atrial frequency and fibrillatory waves amplitude, thus suggesting to be a promising predictor of AF recurrence after SA.

Analysis of intra-atrial electrograms (EGMs) nowadays constitutes the most common way to gain new insights about the mechanisms triggering and maintaining atrial fibrillation (AF). However, these recordings are highly contaminated by powerline interference (PLI) due to the large amount of electrical devices operating simultaneously in the electrophysiology laboratory. To remove this perturbation, conventional notch filtering has been widely used. However, this method adds artificial fractionation to the EGMs, thus concealing their accurate interpretation. Hence, the development of novel algorithms for PLI suppression in EGMs is still an unresolved challenge. Within this context, the present work introduces the joint application of common notch filtering and Wavelet denoising for enhanced PLI removal in AF EGMs. The algorithm was validated on a set of 100 unipolar EGM signals, which were synthesized with different noise levels. Original and denoised EGMs were compared in terms of a signed correlation index (SCI), computed both in time and frequency domains. Compared with the single use of notch filtering, improvements between 4 and 15% were reached with Wavelet denoising in both domains. As a consequence, the proposed algorithm was able to efficiently reduce high levels of PLI and simultaneously preserve the original morphology of AF EGMs.

Solar irradiance variability has been monitored almost exclusively from the Earth's perspective. {We present a method to combine the unprecedented observations of the photospheric magnetic field and continuum intensity from outside the Sun-Earth line, which is being recorded by the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on board the Solar Orbiter mission (SO/PHI), with solar observations recorded from the Earth's perspective to examine the solar irradiance variability from both perspectives simultaneously.} Taking SO/PHI magnetograms and continuum intensity images from the cruise phase of the Solar Orbiter mission and concurrent observations from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/HMI) as input into the SATIRE-S model, we successfully reconstructed the total solar irradiance variability as apparent from both perspectives. In later stages of the SO mission, the orbital plane will tilt in such a way as to bring the spacecraft away from the ecliptic to heliographic latitudes of up to $33^{\circ}$. The current study sets the template for the reconstruction of solar irradiance variability as seen from outside the ecliptic from data that SO/PHI is expected to collect from such positions. {Such a reconstruction will be beneficial to factoring inclination into how the brightness variations of the Sun compare to those of other cool stars, whose rotation axes are randomly inclined.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations of the quiet solar atmosphere reveal extended regions of weak emission compared to the ambient quiescent corona. The magnetic nature of these coronal features is not well understood. We study the magnetic properties of the weakly emitting extended regions, which we name coronal voids. In particular, we aim to understand whether these voids result from a reduced heat input into the corona or if they are associated with mainly unipolar and possibly open magnetic fields, similar to coronal holes. We defined the coronal voids via an intensity threshold of 75% of the mean quiet-Sun (QS) EUV intensity observed by the high-resolution EUV channel (HRIEUV) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on Solar Orbiter. The line-of-sight magnetograms of the same solar region recorded by the High Resolution Telescope of the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager allowed us to compare the photospheric magnetic field beneath the coronal voids with that in other parts of the QS. The coronal voids studied here range in size from a few granules to a few supergranules and on average exhibit a reduced intensity of 67% of the mean value of the entire field of view. The magnetic flux density in the photosphere below the voids is 76% (or more) lower than in the surrounding QS. Specifically, the coronal voids show much weaker or no network structures. The detected flux imbalances fall in the range of imbalances found in QS areas of the same size. Conclusions. We conclude that coronal voids form because of locally reduced heating of the corona due to reduced magnetic flux density in the photosphere. This makes them a distinct class of (dark) structure, different from coronal holes., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures

The brightness of faculae and network depends on the angle at which they are observed and the magnetic flux density. Close to the limb, assessment of this relationship has until now been hindered by the increasingly lower signal in magnetograms. This preliminary study aims at highlighting the potential of using simultaneous observations from different vantage points to better determine the properties of faculae close to the limb. We use data from the Solar Orbiter/Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI), and the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (SDO/HMI), recorded at $\sim60^\circ$ angular separation of their lines of sight at the Sun. We use continuum intensity observed close to the limb by SO/PHI and complement it with the co-observed $B_{\rm LOS}$ from SDO/HMI, originating closer to disc centre (as seen by SDO/HMI), thus avoiding the degradation of the magnetic field signal near the limb. We derived the dependence of facular brightness in the continuum on disc position and magnetic flux density from the combined observations of SO/PHI and SDO/HMI. Compared with a single point of view, we were able to obtain contrast values reaching closer to the limb and to lower field strengths. We find the general dependence of the limb distance at which the contrast is maximum on the flux density to be at large in line with single viewpoint observations, in that the higher the flux density is, the closer the turning point lies to the limb. There is a tendency, however, for the maximum to be reached closer to the limb when determined from two vantage points. We note that due to the preliminary nature of this study, these results must be taken with caution. Our analysis shows that studies involving two viewpoints can significantly improve the detection of faculae near the solar limb and the determination of their brightness contrast relative to the quiet Sun.

Arch-like loop structures filled with million Kelvin hot plasma form the building blocks of the quiet-Sun corona. Both high-resolution observations and magnetoconvection simulations show the ubiquitous presence of magnetic fields on the solar surface on small spatial scales of $\sim$100\,km. However, the question of how exactly these quiet-Sun coronal loops originate from the photosphere and how the magnetic energy from the surface is channeled to heat the overlying atmosphere is a long-standing puzzle. Here we report high-resolution photospheric magnetic field and coronal data acquired during the second science perihelion of Solar Orbiter that reveal a highly dynamic magnetic landscape underlying the observed quiet-Sun corona. We found that coronal loops often connect to surface regions that harbor fleeting weaker, mixed-polarity magnetic field patches structured on small spatial scales, and that coronal disturbances could emerge from these areas. We suggest that weaker magnetic fields with fluxes as low as $10^{15}$\,Mx and/or those that evolve on timescales less than 5\,minutes, are crucial to understand the coronal structuring and dynamics., Comment: Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

The Sunrise Chromospheric Infrared spectroPolarimeter (SCIP) has been developed for the third flight of the SUNRISE balloon-borne stratospheric solar observatory. The aim of SCIP is to reveal the evolution of three-dimensional magnetic fields in the solar photosphere and chromosphere using spectropolarimetric measurements with a polarimetric precision of 0.03\% (1$\sigma$). Multiple lines in the 770 and 850 nm wavelength bands are simultaneously observed with two 2k$\times$2k CMOS cameras at a frame rate of 31.25 Hz. Stokes profiles are calculated onboard by accumulating the images modulated by a polarization modulation unit, and then compression processes are applied to the two-dimensional maps of the Stokes profiles. This onboard data processing effectively reduces the data rate. SCIP electronics can handle large data formats at high speed. Before the implementation into the flight SCIP electronics, a performance verification of the onboard data processing was performed with synthetic SCIP data that were produced with a numerical simulation modeling the solar atmospheres. Finally, we verified that the high-speed onboard data processing was realized on ground with the flight hardware by using images illuminated by natural sunlight or an LED., Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in JATIS

Spectropolarimetric reconstructions of the photospheric vector magnetic field are intrinsically limited by the 180$^\circ$-ambiguity in the orientation of the transverse component. So far, the removal of such an ambiguity has required assumptions about the properties of the photospheric field, which makes disambiguation methods model-dependent. The basic idea is that the unambiguous line-of-sight component of the field measured from one vantage point will generally have a non-zero projection on the ambiguous transverse component measured by the second telescope, thereby determining the ``true'' orientation of the transverse field. Such an idea was developed and implemented in the Stereoscopic Disambiguation Method (SDM), which was recently tested using numerical simulations. In this work we present a first application of the SDM to data obtained by the High Resolution Telescope (HRT) onboard Solar Orbiter during the March 2022 campaign, when the angle with Earth was 27 degrees. The method is successfully applied to remove the ambiguity in the transverse component of the vector magnetogram solely using observations (from HRT and from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager), for the first time. The SDM is proven to provide observation-only disambiguated vector magnetograms that are spatially homogeneous and consistent. A discussion about the sources of error that may limit the accuracy of the method, and of the strategies to remove them in future applications, is also presented., Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures, accepted in A&A on 09/07/2023

The Solar Orbiter mission completed its first remote-sensing observation windows in the spring of 2022. On 2/4/2022, an M-class flare followed by a filament eruption was seen both by the instruments on board the mission and from several observatories in Earth's orbit. The complexity of the observed features is compared with the predictions given by the standard flare model in 3D. We use the observations from a multi-view dataset, which includes EUV imaging to spectroscopy and magnetic field measurements. These data come from IRIS, SDO, Hinode, as well as several instruments on Solar Orbiter. Information given by SDO/HMI and Solar Orbiter PHI/HRT shows that a parasitic polarity emerging underneath the filament is responsible for bringing the flux rope to an unstable state. As the flux rope erupts, Hinode/EIS captures blue-shifted emission in the transition region and coronal lines in the northern leg of the flux rope prior to the flare peak. Solar Orbiter SPICE captures the whole region, complementing the Doppler diagnostics of the filament eruption. Analyses of the formation and evolution of a complex set of flare ribbons and loops show that the parasitic emerging bipole plays an important role in the evolution of the flaring region. While the analysed data are overall consistent with the standard flare model, the present particular magnetic configuration shows that surrounding magnetic activity such as nearby emergence needs to be taken into account to fully understand the processes at work. This filament eruption is the first to be covered from different angles by spectroscopic instruments, and provides an unprecedented diagnostic of the multi-thermal structures present before and during the flare. This dataset of an eruptive event showcases the capabilities of coordinated observations with the Solar Orbiter mission., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomy & Astrophysics special edition "Solar Orbiter First Results (Nominal Mission Phase)" (23/05/2023)

We use wavefront sensing to characterise the image quality of the the High Resolution Telescope (HRT) of the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI) data products during the second remote sensing window of the Solar Orbiter (SO) nominal mission phase. Our ultimate aims are to reconstruct the HRT data by deconvolving with the HRT point spread function (PSF) and to correct for the effects of optical aberrations on the data. We use a pair of focused--defocused images to compute the wavefront error and derive the PSF of HRT by means of a phase diversity (PD) analysis. The wavefront error of HRT depends on the orbital distance of SO to the Sun. At distances $>0.5$\,au, the wavefront error is small, and stems dominantly from the inherent optical properties of HRT. At distances $<0.5$\,au, the thermo-optical effect of the Heat Rejection Entrance Window (HREW) becomes noticeable. We develop an interpolation scheme for the wavefront error that depends on the thermal variation of the HREW with the distance of SO to the Sun. We also introduce a new level of image reconstruction, termed `aberration correction', which is designed to reduce the noise caused by image deconvolution while removing the aberrations caused by the HREW. The computed PSF via phase diversity significantly reduces the degradation caused by the HREW in the near-perihelion HRT data. In addition, the aberration correction increases the noise by a factor of only $1.45$ compared to the factor of $3$ increase that results from the usual PD reconstructions.

Earth-side observations of solar p modes can be used to image and monitor magnetic activity on the Sun's far side. Here we use magnetograms of the far side obtained by the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) onboard Solar Orbiter (SO) to directly assess -- for the first time -- the validity of far-side helioseismic holography. We wish to co-locate the positions of active regions in helioseismic images and magnetograms, and to calibrate the helioseismic measurements in terms of magnetic field strength. We identify three magnetograms on 18 November 2020, 3 October 2021, and 3 February 2022 displaying a total of six active regions on the far side. The first two dates are from SO's cruise phase, the third from the beginning of the nominal operation phase. We compute contemporaneous seismic phase maps for these three dates using helioseismic holography applied to time series of Dopplergrams from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Among the six active regions seen in SO/PHI magnetograms, five active regions are identified on the seismic maps at almost the same positions as on the magnetograms. One region is too weak to be detected above the seismic noise. To calibrate the seismic maps, we fit a linear relationship between the seismic phase shifts and the unsigned line-of-sight magnetic field averaged over the active region areas extracted from the SO/PHI magnetograms. SO/PHI provides the strongest evidence so far that helioseismic imaging provides reliable information about active regions on the far side, including their positions, areas, and mean unsigned magnetic field., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

In November 2021, Solar Orbiter started its nominal mission phase. The remote-sensing instruments on board the spacecraft acquired scientific data during three observing windows surrounding the perihelion of the first orbit of this phase. The aim of the analysis is the detection of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave modes in an active region by exploiting the capabilities of spectropolarimetric measurements. The High Resolution Telescope (HRT) of the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI) on board the Solar Orbiter acquired a high-cadence data set of an active region. This is studied in the paper. B-$\omega$ and phase-difference analyses are applied on line-of-sight velocity and circular polarization maps and other averaged quantities. We find that several MHD modes at different frequencies are excited in all analysed structures. The leading sunspot shows a linear dependence of the phase lag on the angle between the magnetic field and the line of sight of the observer in its penumbra. The magnetic pore exhibits global resonances at several frequencies, which are also excited by different wave modes. The SO/PHI measurements clearly confirm the presence of magnetic and velocity oscillations that are compatible with one or more MHD wave modes in pores and a sunspot. Improvements in modelling are still necessary to interpret the relation between the fluctuations of different diagnostics.

The Slow Solar Wind Connection Solar Orbiter Observing Plan (Slow Wind SOOP) was developed to utilise the extensive suite of remote sensing and in situ instruments on board the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission to answer significant outstanding questions regarding the origin and formation of the slow solar wind. The Slow Wind SOOP was designed to link remote sensing and in situ measurements of slow wind originating at open-closed field boundaries. The SOOP ran just prior to Solar Orbiter's first close perihelion passage during two remote sensing windows (RSW1 and RSW2) between 2022 March 3-6 and 2022 March 17-22, while Solar Orbiter was at a heliocentric distance of 0.55-0.51 and 0.38-0.34 au from the Sun, respectively. Coordinated observation campaigns were also conducted by Hinode and IRIS. The magnetic connectivity tool was used, along with low latency in situ data, and full-disk remote sensing observations, to guide the target pointing of Solar Orbiter. Solar Orbiter targeted an active region complex during RSW1, the boundary of a coronal hole, and the periphery of a decayed active region during RSW2. Post-observation analysis using the magnetic connectivity tool along with in situ measurements from MAG and SWA/PAS, show that slow solar wind, with velocities between 210 and 600 km/s, arrived at the spacecraft originating from two out of the three of the target regions. The Slow Wind SOOP, despite presenting many challenges, was very successful, providing a blueprint for planning future observation campaigns that rely on the magnetic connectivity of Solar Orbiter., Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures

In order to make accurate inferences about the solar interior using helioseismology, it is essential to understand all the relevant physical effects on the observations. One effect to understand is the (complex-valued) ratio of the horizontal to vertical displacement of the p- and f-modes at the height at which they are observed. Unfortunately, it is impossible to measure this ratio directly from a single vantage point, and it has been difficult to disentangle observationally from other effects. In this paper we attempt to measure the ratio directly using 7.5 hours of simultaneous observations from the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on board Solar Orbiter and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. While image geometry problems make it difficult to determine the exact ratio, it appears to agree well with that expected from adiabatic oscillations in a standard solar model. On the other hand it does not agree with a commonly used approximation, indicating that this approximation should not be used in helioseismic analyses. In addition, the ratio appears to be real-valued., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 8 pages, 8 figures

The High Resolution Telescope (HRT) of the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on board the Solar Orbiter spacecraft (SO/PHI) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) both infer the photospheric magnetic field from polarised light images. SO/PHI is the first magnetograph to move out of the Sun--Earth line and will provide unprecedented access to the Sun's poles. This provides excellent opportunities for new research wherein the magnetic field maps from both instruments are used simultaneously. We aim to compare the magnetic field maps from these two instruments and discuss any possible differences between them. We used data from both instruments obtained during Solar Orbiter's inferior conjunction on 7 March 2022. The HRT data were additionally treated for geometric distortion and degraded to the same resolution as HMI. The HMI data were re-projected to correct for the $3^{\circ}$ separation between the two observatories. SO/PHI-HRT and HMI produce remarkably similar line-of-sight magnetograms, with a slope coefficient of $0.97$, an offset below $1$ G, and a Pearson correlation coefficient of $0.97$. However, SO/PHI-HRT infers weaker line-of-sight fields for the strongest fields. As for the vector magnetic field, SO/PHI-HRT was compared to both the $720$-second and $90$-second HMI vector magnetic field: SO/PHI-HRT has a closer alignment with the $90$-second HMI vector. In the weak signal regime ($< 600$ G), SO/PHI-HRT measures stronger and more horizontal fields than HMI, very likely due to the greater noise in the SO/PHI-HRT data. In the strong field regime ($\gtrsim 600$ G), HRT infers lower field strengths but with similar inclinations (a slope of $0.92$) and azimuths (a slope of $1.02$). The slope values are from the comparison with the HMI $90$-second vector., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A; manuscript is a part of Astronomy & Astrophysics special issue: Solar Orbiter First Results (Nominal Mission Phase)

The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter space mission has been successfully launched in February 2020. Onboard is the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI), which has two telescopes, a High Resolution Telescope (HRT) and the Full Disc Telescope (FDT). The instrument is designed to infer the photospheric magnetic field and line-of-sight velocity through differential imaging of the polarised light emitted by the Sun. It calculates the full Stokes vector at 6 wavelength positions at the Fe I 617.3 nm absorption line. Due to telemetry constraints, the instrument nominally processes these Stokes profiles onboard, however when telemetry is available, the raw images are downlinked and reduced on ground. Here the architecture of the on-ground pipeline for HRT is presented, which also offers additional corrections not currently available on board the instrument. The pipeline can reduce raw images to the full Stokes vector with a polarimetric sensitivity of $10^{-3}\cdot I_{c}$ or better.

Fabry-P\'erot etalons illuminated with collimated beams have been characterized analytically in detail since their invention. Meanwhile, most of the features of etalons located in telecentric planes have been studied only numerically, despite the wide use of this configuration in astrophysical instrumentation over decades. In this work we present analytical expressions for the transmitted electric field and its derivatives that are valid for etalons placed in slow telecentric beams, like the ones commonly employed in solar instruments. We use the derivatives to infer the sensitivity of the electric field to variations in the optical thickness for different reflectivities and apertures of the incident beam and we compare them to the collimated case. This allows us to estimate the wavefront degradation produced by roughness errors on the surfaces of the Fabry-P\'erot and to establish the maximum allowed RMS value of the cavity irregularities across the footprint of the incident beam on the etalon that ensures diffraction-limited performance. We also evaluate the wavefront degradation intrinsic to these mounts, which is produced only by the finite aperture of the beam and that must be added to the one produced by defects. Finally, we discuss the differences in performance of telecentric and collimated etalon-based instruments and we generalize our formulation to anisotropic etalons., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on board the Solar Orbiter (SO) spacecraft observed small extreme ultraviolet (EUV) bursts, termed campfires, that have been proposed to be brightenings near the apexes of low-lying loops in the quiet-Sun atmosphere. The underlying magnetic processes driving these campfires are not understood. During the cruise phase of SO and at a distance of 0.523\,AU from the Sun, the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on Solar Orbiter (SO/PHI) observed a quiet-Sun region jointly with SO/EUI, offering the possibility to investigate the surface magnetic field dynamics underlying campfires at a spatial resolution of about 380~km. In 71\% of the 38 isolated events, campfires are confined between bipolar magnetic features, which seem to exhibit signatures of magnetic flux cancellation. The flux cancellation occurs either between the two main footpoints, or between one of the footpoints of the loop housing the campfire and a nearby opposite polarity patch. In one particularly clear-cut case, we detected the emergence of a small-scale magnetic loop in the internetwork followed soon afterwards by a campfire brightening adjacent to the location of the linear polarisation signal in the photosphere, that is to say near where the apex of the emerging loop lays. The rest of the events were observed over small scattered magnetic features, which could not be identified as magnetic footpoints of the campfire hosting loops. The majority of campfires could be driven by magnetic reconnection triggered at the footpoints, similar to the physical processes occurring in the burst-like EUV events discussed in the literature. About a quarter of all analysed campfires, however, are not associated to such magnetic activity in the photosphere, which implies that other heating mechanisms are energising these small-scale EUV brightenings.

Small-scale internetwork (IN) magnetic fields are considered to be the main building blocks of the quiet Sun magnetism. For this reason, it is crucial to understand how they appear on the solar surface. Here, we employ a high-resolution, high-sensitivity, long-duration Hinode/NFI magnetogram sequence to analyze the appearance modes and spatio-temporal evolution of individual IN magnetic elements inside a supergranular cell at the disk center. From identification of flux patches and magnetofrictional simulations, we show that there are two distinct populations of IN flux concentrations: unipolar and bipolar features. Bipolar features tend to be bigger and stronger than unipolar features. They also live longer and carry more flux per feature. Both types of flux concentrations appear uniformly over the solar surface. However, we argue that bipolar features truly represent the emergence of new flux on the solar surface, while unipolar features seem to be formed by coalescence of background flux. Magnetic bipoles appear at a faster rate than unipolar features (68 as opposed to 55 Mx cm$^{-2}$ day$^{-1}$), and provide about 70% of the total instantaneous IN flux detected in the interior of the supergranule., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Animations are available at https://www.lmsal.com/~mgosic/download/animations_apj_2021b.tgz

Recent observations from Parker Solar Probe have revealed that the solar wind has a highly variable structure. How this complex behaviour is formed in the solar corona is not yet known, since it requires omnipresent fluctuations, which constantly emit material to feed the wind. In this article we analysed 14 upflow regions in the solar corona to find potential sources for plasma flow. The upflow regions were derived from spectroscopic data from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) onboard Hinode determining their Doppler velocity and defining regions which have blueshifts stronger than $-6\,km\,s^{-1}$. To identify the sources of this blueshift data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and the X-ray Telescope (XRT), onboard Hinode, were used. The analysis revealed that only 5 out of 14 of the upflows were associated with frequent transients, like obvious jets or bright points. In contrast to that, seven events were associated with small-scale features, which show a large variety of dynamics. Some resemble small bright points, while others show an eruptive nature, all of which are faint and only live for a few minutes; we can not rule out that several of these sources may be fainter and, hence, less obvious jets. Since the complex structure of the solar wind is known, this suggests that new sources have to be considered or better methods used to analyse the known sources. This work shows that small and frequent features, which were previously neglected, can cause strong upflows in the solar corona. These results emphasise the importance of the first observations from the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) onboard Solar Orbiter, which revealed complex small-scale coronal structures.

The solar photosphere provides us with a laboratory for understanding turbulence in a layer where the fundamental processes of transport vary rapidly and a strongly superadiabatic region lies very closely to a subadiabatic layer. Our tools for probing the turbulence are high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations such as have recently been obtained with the two sunrise missions, and numerical simulations. Our aim is to study photospheric turbulence with the help of Fourier power spectra that we compute from observations and simulations. We also attempt to explain some properties of the photospheric overshooting flow with the help of its governing equations and simulations. We find that quiet-Sun observations and smeared simulations exhibit a power-law behavior in the subgranular range of their Doppler velocity power spectra with an index of$~\approx -2$. The unsmeared simulations exhibit a power-law index of$~\approx -2.25$. The smearing considerably reduces the extent of the power-law-like portion of the spectra. Therefore, the limited spatial resolution in some observations might eventually result in larger uncertainties in the estimation of the power-law indices. The simulated vertical velocity power spectra as a function of height show a rapid change in the power-law index from the solar surface to $300$~km above it. A scale-dependent transport of the vertical momentum occurs. At smaller scales, the vertical momentum is more efficiently transported sideways than at larger scales. This results in less vertical velocity power transported upward at small scales than at larger scales and produces a progressively steeper vertical velocity power law below $180$ km. Above this height, the gravity work progressively gains importance at all scales, making the atmosphere progressively more hydrostatic and resulting in a gradually less steep power law., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Accepted in A and A

Solar Orbiter is the first space mission observing the solar plasma both in situ and remotely, from a close distance, in and out of the ecliptic. The ultimate goal is to understand how the Sun produces and controls the heliosphere, filling the Solar System and driving the planetary environments. With six remote-sensing and four in-situ instrument suites, the coordination and planning of the operations are essential to address the following four top-level science questions: (1) What drives the solar wind and where does the coronal magnetic field originate? (2) How do solar transients drive heliospheric variability? (3) How do solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere? (4) How does the solar dynamo work and drive connections between the Sun and the heliosphere? Maximising the mission's science return requires considering the characteristics of each orbit, including the relative position of the spacecraft to Earth (affecting downlink rates), trajectory events (such as gravitational assist manoeuvres), and the phase of the solar activity cycle. Furthermore, since each orbit's science telemetry will be downloaded over the course of the following orbit, science operations must be planned at mission level, rather than at the level of individual orbits. It is important to explore the way in which those science questions are translated into an actual plan of observations that fits into the mission, thus ensuring that no opportunities are missed. First, the overarching goals are broken down into specific, answerable questions along with the required observations and the so-called Science Activity Plan (SAP) is developed to achieve this. The SAP groups objectives that require similar observations into Solar Orbiter Observing Plans (SOOPs), resulting in a strategic, top-level view of the optimal opportunities for science observations during the mission lifetime., Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics

Solar Orbiter, the first mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme and a mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA, will explore the Sun and heliosphere from close up and out of the ecliptic plane. It was launched on 10 February 2020 04:03 UTC from Cape Canaveral and aims to address key questions of solar and heliospheric physics pertaining to how the Sun creates and controls the Heliosphere, and why solar activity changes with time. To answer these, the mission carries six remote-sensing instruments to observe the Sun and the solar corona, and four in-situ instruments to measure the solar wind, energetic particles, and electromagnetic fields. In this paper, we describe the science objectives of the mission, and how these will be addressed by the joint observations of the instruments onboard. The paper first summarises the mission-level science objectives, followed by an overview of the spacecraft and payload. We report the observables and performance figures of each instrument, as well as the trajectory design. This is followed by a summary of the science operations concept. The paper concludes with a more detailed description of the science objectives. Solar Orbiter will combine in-situ measurements in the heliosphere with high-resolution remote-sensing observations of the Sun to address fundamental questions of solar and heliospheric physics. The performance of the Solar Orbiter payload meets the requirements derived from the mission's science objectives. Its science return will be augmented further by coordinated observations with other space missions and ground-based observatories., Comment: 32 pages, 30 figures; accepted for publication in A&A

We study the photospheric evolution of an exploding granule observed in the quiet Sun at high spatial ($0.3^{\prime\prime}$) and temporal (31.5 s) resolution by the imaging magnetograph Sunrise/IMaX in June 2009. These observations show that the exploding granule is cospatial to a magnetic flux emergence event occurring at mesogranular scale (up to 12 Mm$^{2}$ area). Using a modified version of the SIR code for inverting the IMaX spectropolarimetric measurements, we obtain information about the magnetic configuration of this photospheric feature. In particular, we find evidence of highly inclined emerging fields in the structure, carrying a magnetic flux content up to $4 \times 10^{18}$ Mx. The balance between gas and magnetic pressure in the region of flux emergence, compared with a very quiet region of the Sun, indicates that the additional pressure carried by the emerging flux increases by about 5% the total pressure and appears to allow the granulation to be modified, as predicted by numerical simulations. The overall characteristics suggest that a multi-polar structure emerges into the photosphere, resembling an almost horizontal flux sheet. This seems to be associated with exploding granules. Finally, we discuss the origin of such flux emergence events., Comment: 19 pages, 12 figure + Appendix, accepted for ApJ. Figure 1 and Figure 5 are a low-quality version of the original ones

The spectral, imaging, and polarimetric behavior of Fabry-P\'erot etalons have an influence on imaging vector magnetograph instruments based on these devices. The impact depends, among others, on the optical configuration (collimated or telecentric), on the relative position of the etalon with respect to the polarimeter, on the type of etalon (air-gapped or crystalline), and even on the polarimetric technique to be used (single-beam or dual-beam). In this paper we evaluate the artificial line-of-sight velocities and magnetic field strengths that arise in etalon-based instruments attending to the mentioned factors. We differentiate between signals that are implicit to telecentric mounts due to the wavelength dependence of the point-spread function and those emerging in both collimated and telecentric setups from the polarimetric response of birefringent etalons. For the anisotropic case we consider two possible locations of the etalon, between the modulator and the analyzer or after it, and we include the effect on different channels when dual-beam polarimetry is employed. We also evaluate the impact of the loss of symmetry produced in telecentric mounts due to imperfections in the illumination and/or to a tilt of the etalon relative to the incident beam., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

Crystalline etalons present several advantages with respect to other types of filtergraphs when employed in magnetographs. Specially that they can be tuned by only applying electric fields. However, anisotropic crystalline etalons can also introduce undesired birefringent effects that corrupt the polarization of the incoming light. In particular, uniaxial Fabry-P\'erots, such as LiNbO3 etalons, are birefringent when illuminated with an oblique beam. The farther the incidence from the normal, the larger the induced retardance between the two orthogonal polarization states. The application of high-voltages, as well as fabrication defects, can also change the direction of the optical axis of the crystal, introducing birefringence even at normal illumination. Here we obtain analytical expressions for the induced retardance and for the Mueller matrix of uniaxial etalons located in both collimated and telecentric configurations. We also evaluate the polarimetric behavior of Z-cut crystalline etalons with the incident angle, with the orientation of the optical axis, and with the f-number of the incident beam for the telecentric case. We study artificial signals produced in the output Stokes vector in the two configurations. Last, we discuss the polarimetric dependence of the imaging response of the etalon for both collimated and telecentric setups., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures

The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) is the first deep-space solar spectropolarimeter, on-board the Solar Orbiter (SO) space mission. It faces: stringent requirements on science data accuracy, a dynamic environment, and severe limitations on telemetry volume. SO/PHI overcomes these restrictions through on-board instrument calibration and science data reduction, using dedicated firmware in FPGAs. This contribution analyses the accuracy of a data processing pipeline by comparing the results obtained with SO/PHI hardware to a reference from a ground computer. The results show that for the analysed pipeline the error introduced by the firmware implementation is well below the requirements of SO/PHI., Comment: From the Astronomical Data Analysis and Software Systems 2018 conference