English

Understanding the Ly{\alpha} Emission Observed by the Solar Disk Imager Aboard the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2025-05-23 v1

Abstract

The H I Lyman-alpha (Lyα\alpha) emission, with a wavelength of 1216 \r{A}, is the brightest solar ultraviolet (UV) line. However, comprehensive observations of the Lyα\alpha emission line across the full solar disk remain limited. As part of the ASO-S mission, the Solar Disk Imager (SDI) has successfully captured full-disk images in the Lyα\alpha band. Gaussian fitting of SDI's spectral response function (SRF) yields a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of approximately 85 \r{A}, which is significantly broader than the distance of Si III line at 1206 \r{A} and the Lyα\alpha line. Thus, the emission contribution of Si III to the SDI Lyα\alpha passband needs to be considered. For flares, in practice, we calculated the integrated intensity ratio II(Si III)/II(Lyα\alpha) by analyzing spectral observations from the SOLSTICE instrument. It yields values between 1.7% and 14.6%. Empirically, the ratio is proportional to the SXR flux. Further analysis of spectral data from the SUMER instrument reveals that the ratio II(Si III)/II(Lyα\alpha) is approximately 0.5% for prominences, 0.7%--0.9% for the inner disk, and 1.4%--1.9% close to the limb. These findings suggest that II(Si III)/II(Lyα\alpha) is minimal for prominences and the inner disk, and the varying ratios across regions align with the center-to-limb variation of the Si III and Lyα\alpha lines. Additionally, we compared Lyα\alpha image intensity with 304 \r{A}, 1600 \r{A}, and 1700 \r{A} observations from AIA, as well as Hα\alpha from CHASE, in multiple regions (a prominence region, two active regions, and a quiet region). A relatively higher correlation of about 85% is found between Lyα\alpha and 304 \r{A} in active regions, whereas in the quiet region and prominence, their correlation coefficients are about 55%.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.16218,
  title  = {Understanding the Ly{\alpha} Emission Observed by the Solar Disk Imager Aboard the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory},
  author = {Yiliang Li and Ping Zhang and Zhengyuan Tian and Li Feng and Guanglu Shi and Jianchao Xue and Ying Li and Jun Tian and Kaifan Ji and Beili Ying and Lei Lu and Shuting Li and Jiahui Shan and Hui Li and Weiqun Gan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.16218},
  year   = {2025}
}