SOLAR PHYSICS

The course is aimed at providing the student the basic knowledge and the state of the art of the knowledge in Solar Physics: knowledge of the methods used to investigate the solar interior and the solar atmosphere; knowledge of the mechanisms of interaction between the plasma and localized magnetic fields; concept of magnetic reconnection applied to transient phenomena taking place in the solar atmosphere; knowledge of the mechanisms of interaction between the solar magnetized plasma and the Earth magnetosphere in the framework of Space Weather.

Teaching is mainly based on lectures. The students will also be invited to attend (on-line) seminars on selected topics of solar physics.

There will also be some practical exercises aimed at learning some techniques used in solar physics, as well as some guided visits to observational infrastructures of INAF - Catania Astrophysical Observatory.

The solar interior: core, radiative zone, convective zone. The Standard Solar Model. Nuclear fusion in the solar core. Measure of the solar neutrinos flux. Heliosismology. Oscillations as a diagnostic tool to investigate the inner structure and dynamics of the Sun. The internal solar rotation.

The solar atmosphere:

Photosphere, Chromosphere, Transition Region, Corona. Solar differential rotation.

Telescopes, Instruments and Techniques to observe the Sun:

Techniques of observation of the various layers of the solar atmosphere. Solar telescopes. Spectrographs. Filters. Polarization of light. Spectro-polarimetry. Methods of reduction.

Magnetic structures in the solar atmosphere:

Active regions, sunspots, faculae, prominences, loops. coronal holes. Emergence of magnetic flux in the solar atmosphere. Formation and evolution of active regions. Sunspots: physical and morphologic characteristics. The 11-year cycle of solar activity. The dynamo model. Chromospheric-coronal heating. Solar wind.

Solar eruptive events:

Flares and filament eruptions: observational characteristics and models. Coronal Mass Ejections. Space Weather.

Textbooks:

• H. M. Antia, A. Bhatnagar, P Ulmschneider : Lectures on Solar Physics, Springer Verlag, 2003

• M. Aschwanden : Physics of the solar corona: an introduction, Springer, Praxis Pub. Ltd, 2004

• R. J. Bray, L. E. Cram, C. J. Durrant, R. E. Loughhead : Plasma loops in the solar corona, Cambridge University Press, 1991

• K. R. Lang : The Sun from Space, Springer, 2000

• E. Landi Degl'Innocenti : Fisica Solare, Springer Verlag, 2008

• E. R. Priest : Solar system magnetic fields, Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, 1985

• E. Tandberg-Hanssen, A. G. Emslie : The physics of solar flares, Cambridge University Press, 1988