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arXiv · 2305.07676

Ground-based monitoring of the variability of visible Solar spectral lines for improved understanding of solar and stellar magnetism and dynamics

Abstract

Long-term high-cadence measurements of stellar spectral variability are fundamental to better understand stellar atmospheric properties and stellar magnetism. These, in turn, are fundamental for the detectability of exoplanets as well as the characterization of their atmospheres and habitability. The Sun, viewed as a star via disk-integrated observations, offers a means of exploring such measurements while also offering the spatially resolved observations that are necessary to discern the causes of observed spectral variations. High-spectral resolution observations of the solar spectrum are fundamental for a variety of Earth-system studies, including climate influences, renewable energies, and biology. The Integrated Sunlight Spectrometer at SOLIS, has been acquiring daily high-spectral resolution Sun-as-a-star measurements since 2006.More recently, a few ground-based telescopes with the capability of monitoring the solar visible spectrum at high spectral resolution have been deployed (e.g. PEPSI, HARPS, NEID). However, the main scientific goal of these instruments is to detect exo-planets, and solar observations are acquired mainly as a reference. Consequently, their technical requirements are not ideal to monitor solar variations with high photometric stability, especially over solar-cycle temporal scales.The goal of this white paper is to emphasize the scientific return and explore the technical requirements of a network of ground-based spectrographs devoted to long-term monitoring of disk-integrated solar-spectral variability with high spectral resolution and high photometric stability, in conjunction with disk-resolved observations in selected spectral lines,to complement planet-hunter measurements and stellar-variability studies. The proposed network of instruments offers the opportunity for a larger variety of multidisciplinary studies.

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S. Criscuoli, L. Bertello, D. P. Choudhary, M. DeLand, G. Kopp, A. Kowalski, S. Marchenko, K. Reardon, A. A. Pevtsov, D. Tilipman. 2023-05-11. Ground-based monitoring of the variability of visible Solar spectral lines for improved understanding of solar and stellar magnetism and dynamics. https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.07676

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