A new way to probe deeper into the Sun’s secrets has been found by studying the magnetic field at different layers of the solar atmosphere using data from the Kodaikanal Tower Tunnel Telescope. A study led by IIA researchers examined an active region (sunspot) with complex features, including multiple umbrae and a penumbra, through simultaneous observations in the Hydrogen-alpha and Calcium II 8662 Å lines from the Kodaikanal Tower Tunnel telescope. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the line-of-sight (LOS) magnetic field through these simultaneous observations. The results indicate that the Hα line core consistently infers weaker magnetic field strengths than the Ca II 8662 Å line inversions, suggesting that the Hα line samples higher atmospheric layers than the Ca II IR triplet.

Press release published here.

Download the paper from here.