| Name: Divya Oberoi |
| Affiliation: National Centre for Radio Astrophysics |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_86 |
| Title: Enabling State-of-the-art Solar and Heliospheric Sciences with the SKA Telescopes |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: Sun, Solar System, Exoplanets, and Astrobiology |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Divya Oberoi(National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Devojyoti Kansabanik(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel - 20723, USA), Soham Dey(National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Puja Majee(National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Surajit Mondal(National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Deepan Patra(National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Peijin Zhang(Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark - 07102, USA) |
| Abstract: The Sun is a surprisingly difficult radio source to observe and image, even with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescopes. It is multiple orders brighter than the typical radio sources, which sensitive radio telescopes like SKA are optimized for. So, configuring the signal chain to enable solar observations while maintaining linearity is the very first non-standard requirement to be met. Next, the solar radio emission spans an impressive range along every single phase-space parameter that can be used to describe it -- time scales from solar cycles to millisecond; spectral scales from smooth thermal emission to ~100 kHz coherent emission; brightness temperatures from 10^4 K for gyrosynchrotron emissions to 10^{13} K for bright type-III bursts; fractional polarizations from less than 1% to nearly 100%; and angular scales extending beyond a degree. Capturing the dynamics in solar radio emission in their full glory requires, on the one hand, that all the data that goes into making an image be acquired over very short temporal and spectral spans and, on the other, also imposes requirements for very high imaging dynamic range with high polarization purity. Extracting the information at the requisite temporal and spectral scales from SKA data will require a spectropolarimetric snapshot capability with high dynamic range and fidelity. Additionally, some of the most interesting insights into solar physics and space weather come from studying solar activity, which remains inherently unpredictable. Illustrating using examples from SKA precursors and pathfinders, this work will discuss the various solar and heliospheric science specific aspects that need to be considered to help realize the promise of solar and heliospheric science from the SKA telescopes. |
