We develop an adaptive method to automatically identify ARs from radial synoptic maps observed by SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI, calibrate the detections between HMI and MDI data based on identified ARs flux and area and further derive a homogeneous dataset including ARs’ area and flux over the last two solar cycles. The data are compared with sunspot number, USAF/NOAA sunspot area, SMARPs and SHARPs and BARD area and flux, which show reasonable agreement. The identified ARs during the overlap period of MDI and HMI have the same areas as a whole while the AR flux based on MDI maps is about 1.36 times as large as that of HMI maps. Based on our dataset, we find strong ARs (|flux| > 1022Mx) contribute most to the difference between cycles 23 and 24 while other ARs (|flux| < 1022Mx) are similar in the two cycles in both area and flux.

We carry out the first statistical study that investigates the flare-coronal mass ejections (CMEs) association rate as function of the flare intensity and the total unsigned magnetic flux (ΦAR) of ARs that produces the flare. Our results show that flares of the same GOES class but originating from an AR of larger ΦAR, are much more likely confined. This implies that ΦAR is a decisive quantity describing the eruptive character of a flare, as it provides a global parameter relating to the strength of the background field confinement. We also calculated the mean twist values α in regions close to the polarity inversion line and proposed a new parameter α / ΦAR to measure the probability for a large flare to be associated with a CME. We find that the new parameter α/ ΦAR is well able to distinguish eruptive flares from confined flares.

The butterfly diagram of the solar cycle is the equatorward migration of sunspot’s emergence latitudes as the solar cycle evolves, which was attributed to the equatorward flow at the base of the convection zone. However, helioseismological studies indicate controversial forms of the flow, and even present poleward flow at the base, which poses a big challenge to the wide-accepted mechanism. So we aim to propose a new mechanism, that is the latitude-dependent radial flux transport.

During 2017, when the Sun was moving toward the minimum phase of solar cycle 24, an exceptionally eruptive active region (AR) NOAA 12673 emerged on the Sun during August 28-September 10. During the highest activity level, the AR turned into a δ-type sunspot region, which manifests the most complex configuration of magnetic fields from the photosphere to the coronal heights. The AR 12673 produced four X-class and 27 M-class flares, along with numerous C-class flares, making it one of the most powerful ARs of solar cycle 24. Notably, it produced the largest flare of solar cycle 24, namely, the X9.3 event on 2017 September 6. In this work, we highlight the results of our comprehensive analysis involving multi-wavelength imaging and coronal magnetic field modeling to understand the evolution and eruptivity from AR 12673. We especially focus on the morphological, spectral and kinematical evolution of the two X-class flares on 6 September 2017. We explore various large- and small-scale magnetic field structures of the active region which are associated with the triggering and subsequent outbursts during the powerful solar transients.

The magnetic power spectrum analysis provides an effective way to understand the observed distribution of the photospheric magnetic fields and their interaction with plasma motions. We aim to investigate the power spectra using spherical harmonic decomposition of SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI synoptic magnetograms for cycles 23 and 24. We find that the calibration factor between MDI and HMI power spectral density is spatial scale-dependent. The magnetic power spectra show two peaks at the AR scale (l≈30) and supergranular scale (l≈120). The power law indices between these show a good anti-correlation with the amplitude of magnetic activity.

Properties of bipolar magnetic regions (BMRs), particularly, the tilt angle play critical roles in generating the observed polar magnetic field and its reversal. Hence, a long-term study of BMR over its lifetime is crucial not only to understand the solar dynamo but also to identify the origin of the properties of BMR. In our work, we have developed an automatic algorithm to detect and track the BMRs from the line-of-sight (LOS) magnetograms of Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) for the period of Solar Cycle 23 over its lifetime/disk passage. Here, we present the details of our algorithm and the features of BMR, particularly the tilt angle, magnetic field strength and lifetime.

The Aditya-L1 is the first space-based solar observatory of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The spacecraft will carry seven payloads providing uninterrupted observations of the Sun from the first Lagrangian point. Aditya-L1 comprises four remote sensing instruments, viz. a coronagraph observing in visible and infrared, a full disk imager in Near Ultra-Violet (NUV), and two full-sun integrated spectrometers in soft X-ray and hard X-ray. In addition, there are three instruments for in-situ measurements, including a magnetometer, to study the magnetic field variations during energetic events. Aditya-L1 is truly a mission for multi-messenger solar astronomy from space that will provide comprehensive observations of the Sun across the electromagnetic spectrum and in-situ measurements in a broad range of energy, including magnetic field measurements at L1.

Solar flares are an explosive manifestation of the complex magnetic structuring of active regions in the solar atmosphere. The photospheric magnetic field is found to change rapidly, abruptly, and significantly during flaring events. Previous studies are mainly based on line-of-sight or low-cadence data. In this work, we focus on the temporal and spatial evolution of the permanent changes in the magnetic field of solar flares from high-cadence vector data (135 seconds) of the imaging system (dopplergrams and magnetograms) of the SDO/HMI instrument. The highly energetic events under analysis occurred during the solar cycle 24, covering low and high energy ranges, according to GOES classification. This investigation also stands as a crucial input for the characterization and understanding of sunquakes.

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, launched in February 2020, is equipped with both remote-sensing (RS) and in-situ (IS) instruments to record novel and unprecedented measurements of the solar atmosphere and the inner heliosphere. To take full advantage of these new datasets, we have developed tools and techniques to facilitate multi-instrument and multi-spacecraft studies. In particular the yet inaccessible low solar corona below 2 R⊙ can only be observed remotely and techniques must be used to retrieve coronal plasma properties in time and in 3-D space. These properties are useful to drive numerical models and test the different theories proposed to describe the fundamental processes of the solar atmosphere. In addition, the last decades of research have shown that the coupling between the solar corona and the heliosphere is most efficiently studied by combining RS with IS data. During one of the last Solar Orbiter remote sensing windows (March 2022), planned for the Solar Orbiter instruments, we ran complex observation campaigns to maximize the likelihood of linking IS data to their source region near the Sun, by directing some RS instruments to specific targets on the solar disk just days before data acquisition. We show how it is possible to achieve these results directed to improve our understanding of how heliospheric probes connect magnetically to the solar disk.

We use a continuous wavelet transform to analyse the daily hemispheric sunspot area data from the Greenwich Royal Observatory during cycles 12–24 and then study the cause of the appearance or disappearance of the Rieger-type periodicity in the northern and southern hemispheres during a certain cycle. The Rieger-type periodicity in the northern and southern hemispheres should be developed independently in the two hemispheres. This periodicity in the northern hemisphere is generally anti-correlated with the long-term variations in the mean solar cycle strength of hemispheric activity, but the correlation of the two parameters in the southern hemisphere shows a weak correlation. The appearance or disappearance of Rieger-type periodicity in the northern and southern hemispheres during a certain solar cycle is not directly correlated with their corresponding hemispheric mean activity strength but should be related to the strength of the hemispheric activity during sunspot maximum times, which hints the Rieger-type periodicity is more related to temporal evolution of toroidal magnetic field. The Rieger-type periodicity in the two hemispheres disappears in those solar cycles with relatively weak hemispheric activity during sunspot maximum times. The reason for the disappearance of this periodicity may be due to the combined influence of relatively weak toroidal magnetic fields and torsional oscillations, the differential rotation parameters vary through the solar cycle and may not remain more or less unchanged during some time, which does not permit the strong growth of magnetic Rossby waves.

A number of solar filaments/prominences demonstrate failed eruptions, when a filament at first suddenly starts to ascend and then decelerates and stops at some greater height in the corona. The mechanism of the termination of eruptions is not clear yet. One of the confining forces able to stop the eruption is the gravity force. Using a simple model of a partial current-carrying torus loop anchored to the photosphere and photospheric magnetic field measurements as the boundary condition for the potential magnetic field extrapolation into the corona, we estimated masses of 15 eruptive filaments. The values of the filament mass show rather wide distribution in the range of $4\times10^{15}$ – $270\times10^{16}$ g. Masses of the most of filaments, laying in the middle of the range, are in accordance with estimations made earlier on the basis of spectroscopic and white-light observations.

Computational heliophysics has shed light on the fundamental physical processes inside the Sun, such as the differential rotation, meridional circulation, and dynamo-generation of magnetic fields. However, despite the substantial advances, the current results of 3D MHD simulations are still far from reproducing helioseismic inferences and surface observations. The reason is the multi-scale nature of the solar dynamics, covering a vast range of scales, which cannot be solved with the current computational resources. In such a situation, significant progress has been achieved by the mean-field approach, based on the separation of small-scale turbulence and large-scale dynamics. The mean-field simulations can reproduce solar observations, qualitatively and quantitatively, and uncover new phenomena. However, they do not reveal the complex physics of large-scale convection, solar magnetic cycles, and the magnetic self-organization that causes sunspots and solar eruptions. Thus, developing a synergy of these approaches seems to be a necessary but very challenging task.

The coronal heating problem is a long-standing perplexing issue. In this study, 13 solar activity indexes are used to investigate their phase relation with the sunspot number (SSN). Only three of them are found to statistically significantly lag the SSN (large-scale magnetic activity) by about one solar rotation period; the three indexes are total solar irradiance (TSI), the modified coronal index, and the solar wind velocity; the former two indexes may represent the long-term variation of energy quantity of the heated photosphere and corona, respectively. The Mount Wilson Sunspot Index (MWSI) and the Magnetic Plage Strength Index (MPSI), which reflect the large- and small-scale magnetic field activities, respectively, are also utilised to investigate their phase relations with the three indexes. The three indexes are found to be much more intimately related to MPSI than to MWSI, and MWSI statistically significantly leads TSI by about one rotation period. The heated corona is found to pulse perfectly in step with the small-scale magnetic activity rather than the large-scale magnetic activity; furthermore, combined with observations, our statistical evidence should thus attribute coronal heating firmly to small-scale magnetic activity phenomena, such as spicules, micro-flares, nano-flares, and others. The photosphere and the corona are synchronously heated, which should seemingly prefer magnetic reconnection heating to wave heating. In the long term, such a coronal heating way is inferred effective. Statistically, it is also small-scale magnetic activity phenomena that produce TSI enhancement. Coronal heating and solar wind acceleration are found to be synchronous, as standard models require.

Properties of helioseismic acoustic oscillations (p modes) are modified by flows and magnetic fields in the solar interior, with frequencies, amplitudes and damping rates all varying systematically through the solar cycle. Crucially, now, we have a long enough baseline of helioseismic data to compare of the different activity cycles. We review recent efforts along these lines, from the impact of near-surface magnetic fields on p-mode frequencies to the evolution of the torsional oscillation and meridional circulation. We show that each activity cycle for which we have helioseismic data is slightly different in terms of the relationship between p mode frequencies and atmospheric proxies of activity, and in terms of the rotation and meridional circulation flows. However, many challenges remain, crucially including our ability to constrain flows and magnetic fields in the deep solar interior.

Magnetic flux rope (MFR) is closely connected with solar eruptions, such as flares and coronal mass ejections. The classical scenario assumes a single MFR for each eruption, but it is reasonable to expect multiple MFRs in a complex active region (AR). Statistically investigating AR 11897, we verify the existence of multiple MFR proxies during the AR evolution. Recently, AR 12673 in 2017 September produced the two largest flares in Solar Cycle 24. The evolutions of the AR magnetic fields and the two large flares reveal that significant flux emergence and successive interactions between different emerging dipoles resulted in the formations of multiple MFRs and twisted loop bundles, which successively erupted like a chain reaction within several minutes before the peaks of the two flares. We propose that the eruptions of a multi-flux-rope system can rapidly release enormous magnetic energy and result in large flares in solar AR.

Solar simulations and observations showed that the detection of Earth twins around Sun-like stars is difficult in radial velocities with current methods techniques. The Sun has proved to be very useful to test processes, models, and analysis methods. The convective blueshift effect, dominating for the Sun, decreases towards lower mass stars, providing more suitable conditions to detect low mass planets. We describe the basic processes at work and how we extended a realistic solar model of radial velocity, photometry, astrometry and LogR′HK variability, using a coherent grid of stellar parameters covering a large range in mass and average activity levels. We present selected results concerning the impact of magnetic activity on Earth-mass planet detectability as a function of stellar type. We show how such realistic simulations can help characterizing the effect of stellar activity on RV and astrometric exoplanet detection.

The objective of this study is to investigate the solar-cycle variation of the areas of solar open magnetic flux regions at different latitudes. The data used in this study are the radial-field synoptic maps from Wilcox Solar Observatory from May 1970 to December 2014, which covers 3.5 solar cycles. Our results reveal a pole-to-pole trans-equatorial migration pattern for both inward and outward open magnetic fluxes. The pattern consists of the open flux regions migrating across the equator, the regions generated at low latitude and migrating poleward, and the regions locally generated at polar regions. The results also indicate the destruction of open flux regions during the migration from pole to equator, and at low latitude regions. The results have been published in Scientific Reports (Huang et al.2017)

Planetary transits are used to measure the solar radius since the beginning of the 18th century and are the most accurate direct method to measure potentially long-term variation in the solar size. Historical measures present a range of values dominated by systematic errors from different instruments and observers. Atmospheric seeing and black drop effect contribute as error sources for the precise timing of the planetary transit ground observations. Both Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) made observations of planetary transits from space to derive the solar radius. The International Astronomical Union approved the resolution B3 in 2015, defining a nominal solar radius of precisely 695,700 km. In this work, we show that this value is off by more than 300 km, which is one order of magnitude higher than the error of the most recent solar radius observations.

We present the first images of a coordinated campaign to follow active region NOAA 12709 on 2018 May 13 as part of a joint effort between three observatories (China-Europe). The active region was close to disk center and enclosed a small pore, a tight polarity inversion line and a filament in the chromosphere. The active region was observed with the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope on Tenerife (Spain) with spectropolarimetry using GRIS in the He i 10830 Å spectral range and with HiFI using two broad-band filter channels. In addition, the Lomnicky Stit Observatory (LSO, Slovakia) recorded the same active region with the new Solar Chromospheric Detector (SCD) in spectroscopic mode at Hα 6562 Å. The third ground-based telescope was located at the Fuxian Solar Observatory (China), where the active region was observed with the 1-meter New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST), using the Multi-Channel High Resolution Imaging System at Hα 6562 Å. Overlapping images of the active region from all three telescopes will be shown as well as preliminary Doppler line-of-sight (LOS) velocities. The potential of such observations are discussed.

Though generated deep inside the convection zone, the solar magnetic field has a direct impact on the Earth space environment via the Parker spiral. It strongly modulates the solar wind in the whole heliosphere, especially its latitudinal and longitudinal speed distribution over the years. However the wind also influences the topology of the coronal magnetic field by opening the magnetic field lines in the coronal holes, which can affect the inner magnetic field of the star by altering the dynamo boundary conditions. This coupling is especially difficult to model because it covers a large variety of spatio-temporal scales. Quasi-static studies have begun to help us unveil how the dynamo-generated magnetic field shapes the wind, but the full interplay between the solar dynamo and the solar wind still eludes our understanding.

We use the compressible magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) code PLUTO to compute simultaneously in 2.5D the generation and evolution of magnetic field inside the star via an α-Ω dynamo process and the corresponding evolution of a polytropic coronal wind over several activity cycles for a young Sun. A multi-layered boundary condition at the surface of the star connects the inner and outer stellar layers, allowing both to adapt dynamically. Our continuously coupled dynamo-wind model allows us to characterize how the solar wind conditions change as a function of the cycle phase, and also to quantify the evolution of integrated quantities such as the Alfvén radius. We further assess the impact of the solar wind on the dynamo itself by comparing our results with and without wind feedback.