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Jean-Marie Malherbe

Publications and source records attributed to Jean-Marie Malherbe.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2023

Capabilities of a 24 -channel slicer for imaging spectroscopy with the Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) on 8-meter class solar spectrographs

Imaging spectroscopy is intended to be coupled with adaptive optics (AO) on large solar telescopes, in order to produce high spatial and temporal resolution measurements of velocities and magnetic fields on a 2D target. We present the theoretical capabilities of a new generation 24-channel MSDP slicer for 8-meter class spectrographs which are common in solar astronomy. The aim is to produce 24-channel spectra-images providing cubes of instantaneous data (x, y, $λ$) allowing the study of the plasma dynamics and magnetic fields. We investigate the possibility of doubling the spectral resolution using two interlaced spectra-images, delivering together 48 channels. Two polarimetric methods are also explored providing simultaneous measurements of Stokes combinations with a dual beam; one of them could provide 48 sub-channels (or 96 with wavelength interlaced observations).

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arXiv2023

Optical capabilities of the Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) for imaging spectroscopy and polarimetry at the Meudon Solar Tower

The Meudon Solar Tower (MST) is a 0.60 m telescope dedicated to spectroscopic observations of solar regions. It includes a 14-meter focal length spectrograph which offers high spectral resolution. The spectrograph works either in classical thin slit mode (R > 300000) or 2D imaging spectroscopy (60000 < R < 180000). This specific mode is able to provide high temporal resolution measurements (1 min) of velocities and magnetic fields upon a 2D field of view, using the Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) system. The purpose of this paper is to describe the capabilities of the MSDP at MST with available slicers for broad and thin lines. The goal is to produce multichannel spectra-images, from which cubes of instantaneous data (x, y, $λ$) are derived, in order to study of the plasma dynamics and magnetic fields (with polarimetry).

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arXiv2023

Note concerning a high spectral resolution slicer for imaging spectro-polarimetry with the new generation Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) onboard the future EST telescope

Imaging spectroscopy is intended to be coupled with adaptive optics (AO) on large telescopes, such as EST, in order to produce high spatial and temporal resolution measurements of velocities and magnetic fields upon a 2D FOV. We propose a high spectral resolution slicer (30 mÅ typical) for the Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) of the future European Solar Telescope (EST), using a new generation slicer for thin photospheric lines such as FeI (56 channels, 0.13 mm step) which will benefit of AO and existing polarimeters. The aim is to reconstitute cubes of instantaneous data (X, Y, lambda) at high cadence, allowing the study of the photospheric dynamics and magnetic fields.

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arXiv2023

Analysis of full-disc H alpha observations: Carrington maps and filament properties in 1909-2022

Full disc observations of the Sun in the H$α$ line provide information about the solar chromosphere and in particular about the filaments, which are dark and elongated features that lie along magnetic field polarity inversion lines. This makes them important for studies of solar magnetism. Since full disc H$α$ observations have been performed at various sites since 1800s, with regular photographic data having started in the beginning of the 20th century, they are an invaluable source of information on past solar magnetism. In this work we aimed at deriving accurate information about filaments from historical and modern full disc H$α$ observations. We have consistently processed observations from 15 H$α$ archives spanning 1909-2022. Our data processing includes photometric calibration of the data stored on photographic plates. We have constructed also Carrington maps from the calibrated H$α$ images. We find that filament areas are affected by the bandwidth of the observation. Thus, cross-calibration of the filament areas derived from different archives is needed. We have produced a composite of filament areas from individual archives by scaling all of them to the Meudon series. Our composite butterfly diagram shows very distinctly the common features of filament evolution, that is the poleward migration as well as a decrease in the mean latitude of filaments as the cycle progresses. We also find that during activity maxima, filaments on average cover about 1% of the solar surface. We see only a weak change in the amplitude of cycles in filament areas, in contrast to sunspot and plage areas. Analysis of H$α$ data for archives with contemporaneous Ca II K observations allowed us to identify and verify archive inconsistencies, which will also have implications for reconstructions of past solar magnetism and irradiance from Ca II K data.

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arXiv2023

A proposal for imaging spectro-polarimetry with a new generation Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) onboard the EST telescope

Imaging spectroscopy is intended to be coupled with adaptive optics (AO) on large telescopes, such as EST, in order to produce high spatial and temporal resolution measurements of velocities and magnetic fields upon a 2D FOV. We propose a Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) incorporated to the EST visible and IR spectrographs, using new generation slicers (56 channels, high spectral resolution) which will benefit of AO and polarimeters. The aim is to produce 56-channel spectra images with the spatial resolution of the AO and reconstitute cubes of instantaneous data (X, Y, lambda) at high cadence, allowing the study of the plasma dynamics and magnetic fields. The MSDP is compatible with most polarimetric methods (we shall discuss only two of them).

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arXiv2023

Solex observations for the BASS2000 database, a collaboration PRO-AM

Systematic observations of the chromosphere and the photosphere started in Meudon Observatory 115 years ago with Deslandres spectroheliograph. An exceptional collection of more than 100 000 monochromatic images in CaII K and H$α$ spanning more than 10 solar cycles is proposed to the international community by the BASS2000 solar database. We started in 2023 a ''PRO-AM'' collaboration between professional and amateur astronomers with the Solar Explorer (SOLEX), a compact and high quality spectroheliograph designed by Christian Buil, in order to record images every day, and several times per day, owing to tens of observing stations in various places. This paper summarizes the scientific objectives and provides practical and technical information to amateurs willing to join the observing network.

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arXiv2023

Spectro-polarimetry at the Pic du Midi Turret Dome and new observations of the solar CaII K line

We summarize in this paper the spectro-polarimetric methods used at the Pic du Midi Turret Dome in spectroscopic or imagery mode. The polarimeters and spectrograph allow the cartography of solar magnetic fields at high spatial resolution through the Zeeman effect or measurements of the unresolved turbulent magnetic fields in the quiet Sun through the Hanle effect. We describe in this paper the optical capabilities of the successive versions of the polarimeters operating since 2003, and we present new results of magnetic field analysis with the CaII K 3933.7 Å spectral line.

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arXiv2023

Optical characteristics and capabilities of the successive versions of Meudon and Haute Provence H$α$ heliographs (1954-2004)

H$α$ heliographs are imaging instruments designed to produce monochromatic images of the solar chromosphere at fast cadence (60 s or less). They are designed to monitor efficiently dynamic phenomena of solar activity, such as flares or material ejections. Meudon and Haute Provence observatories started systematic observations in the frame of the International Geophysical Year (1957) with Lyot filters. This technology evolved several times until 1985 with tunable filters allowing to observe alternatively the line wings and core (variable wavelength). More than 6 million images were produced during 50 years, mostly on 35 mm films (catalogs are available on-line). We present in this paper the optical characteristics and the capabilities of the successive versions of the H$α$ heliographs in operation between 1954 and 2004, and describe briefly the new heliograph (MeteoSpace) which will be commissioned in 2023 at Calern observatory.

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arXiv2023

Optical characteristics and capabilities of the successive versions of Meudon spectroheliograph (1908-2023)

The spectroheliograph is a spectroscopic instrument designed to produce monochromatic images of the photosphere (the visible layer) and the chromosphere of the Sun. It was invented at the same time (1892), but independently, by Hale in the USA and Deslandres in France and was dedicated to long-term surveys of the solar cycles. For that purpose, systematic observations of the CaII K and H$α$ lines started in Meudon observatory in 1908 and continue today, so that a huge collection of more than 100000 spectroheliograms, spanning 115 years of solar activity, was recorded. We present in this paper the optical characteristics and the capabilities of the successive versions of the instrument, from 1908 to now.

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arXiv2023

Special spectroscopic observations and rare solar events collected in the first half of the twentieth century with Meudon spectroheliograph

Henri Deslandres initiated imaging spectroscopy of the solar atmosphere in 1892 at Paris observatory. He invented, concurrently with George Hale in Kenwood (USA) but quite independently, the spectroheliograph designed for monochromatic imagery of the Sun. Deslandres developed two kinds of spectrographs: the ''spectroh{é}liographe des formes'', i.e. the narrow bandpass instrument to reveal chromospheric structures (such as filaments, prominences, plages and active regions); and the ''spectroh{é}liographe des vitesses'', i.e. the ''section'' spectroheliograph to record line profiles of cross sections of the Sun, in order to measure the Dopplershifts of dynamic features. Deslandres moved to Meudon in 1898 with his instruments and improved the spectral and spatial resolutions, leading to the large quadruple spectroheliograph in 1908 developed with Lucien d'Azambuja. CaII K systematic observations started at this date and were followed in 1909 by H$α$ with two dedicated 3-metres spectroheliographs. The observing service was organized by d'Azambuja who also intensively used the large 7-metres spectroheliograph for his research and thesis (1930). This paper summarizes fifty years of research by Mr and Mrs d'Azambuja, who explored various photospheric and chromospheric lines, performing special spectroheliograms with the high dispersion 7-metres instrument. They also observed intensively filaments and prominences (memoir published in 1948) and recorded rare solar activity events with the two 3-metres spectroheliographs, during the first half of the twentieth century.

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arXiv2023

Monitoring fast solar chromospheric activity: the MeteoSpace project

We present in this reference paper an instrumental project dedicated to the monitoring of solar activity during solar cycle 25. It concerns the survey of fast evolving chromospheric events implied in Space Weather, such as flares, coronal mass ejections, filament instabilities and Moreton waves. Coronal waves are produced by large flares around the solar maximum and propagate with chromospheric counterparts; they are rare, faint, difficult to observe, and for that reason, challenging. They require systematic observations with automatic, fast and multi-channel optical instruments. MeteoSpace is a high cadence telescope assembly specially designed for that purpose. The large amount of data will be freely available to the solar community. We describe in details the optical design, the qualification tests and capabilities of the telescopes, and show how waves can be detected. MeteoSpace will be installed at Calern observatory (C{ô}te d'Azur, 1270 m) and will be in full operation in 2023.

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arXiv2023

130 years of spectroheliograms at Paris-Meudon observatories (1892-2022)

Broad-band observations of the solar photosphere began in Meudon in 1875 under the auspices of Jules Janssen. For his part, Henri Deslandres initiated imaging spectroscopy in 1892 at Paris observatory. He invented, concurrently with George Hale in Kenwood (USA) but quite independently, the spectroheliograph designed for monochromatic imagery of the solar atmosphere. Deslandres developed two kinds of spectrographs: the ''spectroh{é}liographe des formes'', i.e. the narrow bandpass instrument to reveal chromospheric structures (such as filaments, prominences, plages and active regions); and the ''spectroh{é}liographe des vitesses'', i.e. the section spectroheliograph to record line profiles of cross sections of the Sun with a 20''-30'' spatial step. This second apparatus was intended to measure the velocities (more exactly the Dopplershifts) of dynamic features. Deslandres moved to Meudon in 1898 with his instruments and tested various combinations, in order to improve the spectral and spatial resolutions, leading to the final large quadruple spectroheliograph in 1908. CaII K systematic observations started at this date and were followed in 1909 by H$α$. The service was organized by Lucien d'Azambuja and continues today. Optical and mechanical parts were revisited in 1989 and the digital technology was introduced in 2002. Full line profiles are registered for all pixels of the Sun since 2018, so that the instrument produces now data-cubes. The collection is one of the longest available (more than 100 000 observations). It contains sporadic images from 1893 to 1907 (during the development phase) and systematic observations along 10 solar cycles since 1908, in H$α$ and CaII K lines. This paper summarizes 130 years of observations, instrumental research and technical advances.

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arXiv2022

Scrutinizing the relationship between plage areas and sunspot areas and numbers

Studies and reconstructions of past solar activity require data on sunspots as well as faculae/plage and network. Such data are also important for understanding the magnetic activity and variability of the Sun and Sun-like stars. The longest available direct faculae/plage datasets are white-light facular and Ca II K observations going back to 1874 and 1892, respectively. Prior to that time, the only direct data available are for sunspots. We reassess the relationship between plage areas and sunspot records (areas and numbers) since 1892, to allow reconstructions of facular/plage areas which can be employed for studies going further back in time, i.e. over the period when solely sunspot observations are available. We use the plage areas derived from 38 consistently processed Ca II K archives as well as the plage area composite based on these archives. We find the relationship between plage and sunspot areas and numbers to be well represented by a power law function. We further find that the relationships depend on the bandwidth and the solar cycle strength. The reconstructions with a power law relationship are in good agreement with the original plage area series, whereas employment of a cycle-strength-dependent relationship improves the reconstructions only marginally. Performing the same analysis on other previously published plage area series, usually derived from a single archive with diverse processing techniques, returns different results when using different time series. This highlights the importance of applying a consistent processing to the various archives and demonstrates the uncertainties introduced by using previously published series. Our results have implications for past solar activity and irradiance reconstructions as well as for stellar activity studies, which sometimes assume a linear dependence between plage and sunspot areas.

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arXiv2021

Reconstructing solar irradiance from historical Ca II K observations. I. Method and its validation

Knowledge of solar irradiance variability is critical to Earth's climate models and understanding the solar influence on Earth's climate. Direct solar irradiance measurements are only available since 1978. Reconstructions of past variability typically rely on sunspot data. These provide only indirect information on the facular and network regions, which are decisive contributors to irradiance variability on timescales of the solar cycle and longer. Our ultimate goal is to reconstruct past solar irradiance variations using historical full-disc Ca II K observations to describe the facular contribution independently of sunspot observations. Here, we develop the method and test it extensively by using modern CCD-based Ca II K observations and carry out initial tests on two photographic archives. We employ carefully reduced and calibrated Ca II K images from 13 datasets, such as those from the Meudon, Mt Wilson, and Rome observatories. We convert them to unsigned magnetograms and then use them as input to the adapted SATIRE model to reconstruct TSI variations over the period 1978-2019, for which direct irradiance measurements are available. The reconstructed TSI from the analysed Ca II K archives agrees well with direct TSI measurements and existing reconstructions. The model also returns good results on data taken with different bandpasses and images with low spatial resolution. Historical Ca II K archives suffer from numerous inconsistencies, but we show that these archives can still be used to reconstruct TSI with reasonable accuracy provided the observations are accurately processed. By using the unsigned magnetograms of the Sun reconstructed from high-quality Ca II K observations as input into the SATIRE model, we can reconstruct solar irradiance variations nearly as accurately as from directly recorded magnetograms.

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arXiv2020

Analysis of full disc Ca II K spectroheliograms III. Plage area composite series covering 1892-2019

We derive the plage area evolution over the last 12 solar cycles employing data from all Ca II K archives available publicly in digital form known to us, including several as yet unexplored Ca II K archives. We analyse more than 290,000 full-disc Ca II K observations from 43 datasets spanning the period 1892-2019. All images were consistently processed with an automatic procedure that performs the photometric calibration (if needed) and the limb-darkening compensation. The processing also accounts for artefacts plaguing many of the images, including some very specific artefacts such as bright arcs found in Kyoto and Yerkes data. We have produced a plage area time-series from each analysed dataset. We found that the differences between the plage areas derived from individual archives are mainly due to the differences in the central wavelength and the bandpass used to acquire the data at the various sites. We have empirically cross-calibrated and combined the results obtained from each dataset to produce a composite series of plage areas. "Backbone" series are used to bridge all the series together. We have also shown that the selection of the backbone series has little effect on the final plage area composite. We have quantified the uncertainty of determining the plage areas with our processing due to shifts in the central wavelength and found it to be less than 0.01 in fraction of the solar disc for the average conditions found on historical data. We also found the variable seeing conditions during the observations to slightly increase the plage areas during activity maxima. We provide the so far most complete time series of plage areas based on corrected and calibrated historical and modern Ca II K images. Consistent plage areas are now available on 88% of all days from 1892 onwards and on 98% from 1907 onwards.

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