Solar photospheric velocities measured in space: a comparison between SO/PHI-HRT and SDO/HMI

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Calchetti, D., Albert, K., Bailén, F. J., Rodríguez, J. Blanco, Durán, J. S. Castellanos, Feller, A., Gandorfer, A., Hirzberger, J., Sinjan, J., Li, X., Oba, T., Súarez, D. Orozco, Riethmüller, T. L., Schou, J., Solanki, S. K., Strecker, H., Ulyanov, A., Valori, G.
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Publié: 2025
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author Calchetti, D.
Albert, K.
Bailén, F. J.
Rodríguez, J. Blanco
Durán, J. S. Castellanos
Feller, A.
Gandorfer, A.
Hirzberger, J.
Sinjan, J.
Li, X.
Oba, T.
Súarez, D. Orozco
Riethmüller, T. L.
Schou, J.
Solanki, S. K.
Strecker, H.
Ulyanov, A.
Valori, G.
author_facet Calchetti, D.
Albert, K.
Bailén, F. J.
Rodríguez, J. Blanco
Durán, J. S. Castellanos
Feller, A.
Gandorfer, A.
Hirzberger, J.
Sinjan, J.
Li, X.
Oba, T.
Súarez, D. Orozco
Riethmüller, T. L.
Schou, J.
Solanki, S. K.
Strecker, H.
Ulyanov, A.
Valori, G.
contents The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI) onboard Solar Orbiter is a spectropolarimeter scanning the Fe I line at 617.3 nm, providing data of the solar photosphere. The same line is sampled by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and many other on-ground instruments. In this paper, we aim at assessing the consistency between line-of-sight (LoS) velocity measurements from the two instruments. Reliable measurements of up and down flows from SO/PHI are crucial and unique when Solar Orbiter is facing the far side of the Sun. Also, a combination of measurements from two vantage points to study horizontal flows must rely on consistent observations. For this purpose, we compare the LoS velocity measured by SO/PHI's High Resolution Telescope (SO/PHI-HRT) and SDO/HMI on 29 March 2023, when Solar Orbiter was crossing the Sun-Earth line at a distance of 0.39 au from the Sun. Because such co-alignments are rare, this configuration offered an almost unique opportunity to directly compare data products from both telescopes. The data are aligned and remapped to allow a pixel-by-pixel comparison of the whole time series of 4 hours length. Temporal and spatial variations are considered for a direct combination of the measurements. The LoS velocity distributions are evaluated and a clear linear relation is found between the two instruments with a slope of 0.96 and a correlation of 92%. We find that the signals form at similar heights, with a separation of 7$\pm$14 km, which is larger than previous estimates. A close-up look at the penumbra of a sunspot and its Evershed flow is presented. We conclude that the signals inferred by SO/PHI-HRT and SDO/HMI show very good agreement and high correlation when instrumental effects and large-scale velocities on the Sun are properly accounted for.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_25515
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Solar photospheric velocities measured in space: a comparison between SO/PHI-HRT and SDO/HMI
Calchetti, D.
Albert, K.
Bailén, F. J.
Rodríguez, J. Blanco
Durán, J. S. Castellanos
Feller, A.
Gandorfer, A.
Hirzberger, J.
Sinjan, J.
Li, X.
Oba, T.
Súarez, D. Orozco
Riethmüller, T. L.
Schou, J.
Solanki, S. K.
Strecker, H.
Ulyanov, A.
Valori, G.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI) onboard Solar Orbiter is a spectropolarimeter scanning the Fe I line at 617.3 nm, providing data of the solar photosphere. The same line is sampled by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and many other on-ground instruments. In this paper, we aim at assessing the consistency between line-of-sight (LoS) velocity measurements from the two instruments. Reliable measurements of up and down flows from SO/PHI are crucial and unique when Solar Orbiter is facing the far side of the Sun. Also, a combination of measurements from two vantage points to study horizontal flows must rely on consistent observations. For this purpose, we compare the LoS velocity measured by SO/PHI's High Resolution Telescope (SO/PHI-HRT) and SDO/HMI on 29 March 2023, when Solar Orbiter was crossing the Sun-Earth line at a distance of 0.39 au from the Sun. Because such co-alignments are rare, this configuration offered an almost unique opportunity to directly compare data products from both telescopes. The data are aligned and remapped to allow a pixel-by-pixel comparison of the whole time series of 4 hours length. Temporal and spatial variations are considered for a direct combination of the measurements. The LoS velocity distributions are evaluated and a clear linear relation is found between the two instruments with a slope of 0.96 and a correlation of 92%. We find that the signals form at similar heights, with a separation of 7$\pm$14 km, which is larger than previous estimates. A close-up look at the penumbra of a sunspot and its Evershed flow is presented. We conclude that the signals inferred by SO/PHI-HRT and SDO/HMI show very good agreement and high correlation when instrumental effects and large-scale velocities on the Sun are properly accounted for.
title Solar photospheric velocities measured in space: a comparison between SO/PHI-HRT and SDO/HMI
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.25515