arXiv subjects

R. T. Ishikawa

Publications and source records attributed to R. T. Ishikawa.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Origin of small-scale evaporation flows deep in the chromosphere during a solar flare

Flares are caused by an abrupt release of magnetic energy in the solar atmosphere. Plasma heated to well over 10 MK filling the post-flare corona originates from a rapid heating and ablation of the cooler chromospheric material. This chromospheric evaporation is thought to be facilitated primarily by nonthermal electrons impinging on to the lower atmosphere. Questions on when and where in the chromosphere these upflows originate, however, are not fully resolved. Here we report on unprecedented high-resolution observations of an M-class flare recorded by the Sunrise Ultraviolet Spectropolarimeter and Imager on board the balloon-borne SUNRISE observatory, that reveal highly structured upflows on spatial scales of ~100 km originating deep in the chromosphere. The flows even precede the onset of nonthermal electrons by about 10 minutes and last through the impulsive phase of the flare. Our observations shed new light on the lower atmospheric heating and mass circulation in flares that are challenging to reconcile with the standard solar flare model.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Evaluation of spatiotemporal tungsten density profiles using Unresolved Transition Arrays in the Large Helical Device

Tungsten spectroscopic studies have been conducted in the Large Helical Device with a pellet injection technique. Spatiotemporal profiles of tungsten density were evaluated using a space-resolved spectrometer, for plasmas with an electron temperature of below 1 keV and electron density of $10^{19}-10^{20}$ $m^{-3}$. Slice & Stack, a method for reconstructing emissivity, was applied to a line at 191.7 Å , which is a part of the Unresolved Transition Array (UTA) spectrum at 90-250 Å. Tungsten density was obtained using photon emission coefficients of $\mathrm{W}^{17+} - \mathrm{W}^{27+}$, evaluated from collisional-radiative model. The tungsten pellet injected from outside the plasma was first ablated in the edge plasma and subsequently diffused throughout the plasma. This behavior is typical of pellet injection experiments. Furthermore, after an event triggered by NBI breakdown, tungsten accumulated in the core plasma. The radiation power was estimated from the evaluated tungsten density profile and cooling factor dataset, and compared with bolometer measurement. This sequence of processes would be useful for validating atomic data of tungsten ions in low-to-intermediate charge states.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2026

The Sunrise Chromospheric Infrared Spectro-Polarimeter SCIP: an instrument for SUNRISE III

The Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory is equipped with a one-meter aperture optical telescope, offering a unique platform for uninterrupted seeing-free observations across ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths from altitudes higher than 33 km. For the third flight of the upgraded Sunrise observatory conducted in 2024, now called Sunrise III, a new spectro-polarimeter called the Sunrise Chromospheric Infrared spectroPolarimeter (SCIP) was developed for observing near-infrared wavelength ranges around 770 nm and 850 nm. These wavelength ranges contain many spectral lines, including two of the Ca II infrared triplet, K I D1 and D2 lines, and multiple Fe I lines, that are sensitive to solar magnetic fields and velocities in the photosphere and chromosphere. SCIP consists of a grating spectrograph in which polarimetric measurements are conducted using a rotating waveplate as a modulator and polarizing beam splitters placed in front of the cameras. The spatial and spectral resolutions are 0.21" and 1x10^5, respectively, and a polarimetric sensitivity of 0.03% (1sigma) of the continuum intensity is achieved with a 10 s integration time per a resolution element. To achieve high-precision detection of small polarization signals, we carefully designed the optical and mechanical systems, polarization components, control electronics, and onboard data processing. Together with the other post-focus instrumentation developed for Sunrise III, the Sunrise Ultraviolet Spectropolarimeter and Imager (SUSI) and the visible imaging spectro-polarimeter Tunable Magnetograph (TuMag), SCIP provides novel observations that help elucidate energy transfer and time-dependent phenomena across the solar photosphere and chromosphere.

astro-ph.SR↗