Author: ramelli

IRSOL Istituto Ricerche Solari “Aldo e Cele Daccò” is the new name of the research institute in solar physics in Locarno affiliated with the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). The change was decided by the board of the Foundation Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno (FIRSOL) at its meeting on April 5, 2022, to honor the memory of the benefactors Aldo and Cele Daccò, who decided to allocate to the institute a generous bequest, which will contribute to the further development of its research activities. These are mainly focused on studying solar magnetism and its evolution. Solar magnetic activity has a direct impact on Earth through the solar wind and magnetic storms.  Besides creating spectacular polar auroras, the storms can generate significant disturbances to radio telecommunications, as well as large-scale damages to space infrastructures and ground-based electricity distribution networks. The solar studies allow for improving the prediction of such events and help to mitigate their effects through the adoption of countermeasures. The solar activity is also an important contributor to the amount of energy radiated by the Sun and therefore is of interest for climate studies.  

The IRSOL research is based on the development of theoretical models, numerical simulations, instrumentation and observations. The latter make use of high-precision instrumentation for polarization measurements and in particular the ZIMPOL polarimeter, which is developed and maintained in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). The measurements are carried out using the own observatory in Locarno and in dedicated campaigns at the Europe’s largest telescope GREGOR in collaboration with the Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS). Based on this experience, IRSOL has contributed the polarimetric unit to the first-generation instrument VTF for the world-largest solar telescope DKIST (USA) and participates in the European Solar Telescope (EST) project which aims to develop a next generation European 4m-class solar telescope by a broad European consortium 

The IRSOL, recognized as a research facility of national importance, receives financial contributions from the Swiss Confederation, the Canton Ticino and the urban municipalities of Locarno. Several ongoing projects are financed by competitive funds such as the Swiss National Science Foundation and European Union funds.  

Sergio Cortesi left us. Doyen of professional and amateur astronomy in Ticino, former director of the Specola Solare Ticinese, with 64 years of activity in the Sunspot observations, among the founders and then long-time president of the Società Astronomica Ticinese, Sergio Cortesi is no longer with us. We will miss him very much.

 

See press release.

A RSI broadcast on August 21, 2021 was dedicated to the summer solstice with the involvement of IRSOL, Specola, and MeteoSwiss.

It took exactly two years after instrument commissioning to finally get 1st- and 2nd-light at the very same day with Callisto at IRSOL.
Obviously, the Sun started to get active in terms of radio radiation at decametre wavelength (here 45-70 MHz).
Following the NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center classification, the instrument observed twice a small group of type III bursts.
Type III radio bursts are a group of fast drifting radio emissions associated with solar flares. These radio emissions are believed to be excited at the fundamental and second harmonic of the electron plasma frequency.
Solar type III radio bursts are an important diagnostic tool in the understanding of solar accelerated electron beams.
They are a signature of propagating beams of non-thermal electrons in the solar atmosphere and the solar system.
Consequently, they provide information on electron acceleration and transport, and the conditions of the background ambient plasma they travel through.

Christian Monstein