DKIST and Advances in Chromospheric Polarimetry: Connecting the Trees with the Forest

Abstract:

The chromosphere is comprised of a wondrous taxonomy of multi-scaled dynamic phenomena. Together, localized features like jets, jet-lets, fibrils, and spicules, in congress with a vigorous and evolving wave field, create a rich interconnected forest. Indeed, observers have often remarked how spicules extending from the limb appear like a forest of trees, and on-disk, analogous references to fibril canopies are often invoked. Characterizing these basic chromospheric constituents requires highly advanced instrumentation pushing the boundaries of spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution. Yet, pushing for such a microscopic view is not a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. These dynamic features trace important, yet poorly understood, physical processes that are responsible for transporting significant energy from the sun's magnetized convection and depositing it throughout the global chromosphere. A key challenge is to connect the energy budget on local scales with that of the global chromosphere and lower corona. The US National Science Foundation's Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is at the forefront of this observational effort. DKIST provides an extremely versatile facility designed from the ground-up to enable high-speed, multi-channel imaging, slit- and imaging-based spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry at the highest resolutions available. It is uniquely positioned to leverage recent advances in chromospheric polarimetry for inferring the magnetic fields and electric fields in chromospheric plasmas. Early operations start soon, and we are already seeing glimpses of the promise of DKIST. This talk will discuss the exciting opportunities provided by its first light instrument suite, in particular, to study non-equilibrium and non-ideal MHD effects in the Sun's chromospheric forest.