About the institute

The Institute for Solar Physics is a national research infrastructure under the Swedish Research Council. It is managed as an independent institute associated with Stockholm University through its Department of Astronomy.

The institute is located in AlbaNova University Center, close to the main campuses of Stockholm University and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

 

Research

The Sun is the nearest star to us, and compared to other stars, can be studied in great detail. The research is a mix of theory and observations. For the observations, extensive use is made of the Swedish Solar Telescope on La Palma. The studies focus on the structure of sun spots, small-scale magnetic fields, spectral line formation and the chromosphere.

Research group

The Swedish Solar Telescope

 

Scientific Data – Solar data sets from SST and SVST

Here we make available data sets from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST, 97 cm, 2002-) and the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope (SVST, 47.5 cm, 1985-2000). These data are open for download for anyone. Please see our documentations Wiki for notes about the different file formats used for our 2002 and older data.

Our documentations Wiki

File formats

If you publish anything based on these data, please include a statement like the following in a footnote to the paper title or in the Acknowledgments:

"The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by the Institute for Solar Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias."

Imaging 2002

Sunspot images, 487.7 nm, G-band 430.5 nm, and 436.4 nm. A long sequence of images restored for seeing effects by use of Joint Phase Diverse Speckle wavefront sensing and deconvolution:

Active region 10030 from 15 July 2002 (mainly)

Best ever view of sunspots

Spectroscopy

Data collected with the TRIPPEL instrument.

Oxygen data sets

These data sets are available through the CDS archive linked to the following two publications:

Oxygen lines in solar granulation. I. Testing 3D models against new observations with high spatial and spectral resolution. (Pereira et al 2009a)

Oxygen lines in solar granulation. II. Centre-to-limb variation, NLTE line formation, blends, and the solar oxygen abundance. (Pereira et al 2009b)

If you publish anything based on these data, please include a statement like the following in a footnote to the paper title or in the Acknowledgments:

"The Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope was operated on the island of La Palma by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias."

1997 - Phase-diversity restored, two-wavelength photospheric image sequences

Data from 11 and 12 June 1997. 

Phase-diversity restored, two-wavelength photospheric image sequences

1995 - Two-wavelength photospheric image sequences

A 70 min time series of co-spatial and co-temporal G-band 430.5 nm and wideband 468.6 nm filtergrams.

Two-wavelength photospheric image sequences

1993 - Solar PDS raw dataset

This data set consists of 100 phase-diverse image pairs (FITS data cubes with in-focus and intentionally defocused frames).

Solar PDS raw dataset

Here we present SST data sets, that are released for scientists based in Sweden but outside the Institute for Solar Physics.

Science data sets available to scientists in Sweden

 

Publications database

On this page we list publications that are based on SVST/SST data, describe instrument development for the SVST/SST, involve data from the Swedish Stellar 0.6 m Telescope, or are (co-)authored by members of the Institute for Solar Physics staff:

To our publications database

 

Gallery

High resolution granulation.
High resolution granulation. Observer: Vasco Henriques. Image processing: Vasco Henriques.

The images and movies found in our gallery are free for publication provided that proper credits are given. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all images were observed with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST).

Please credit the telescope and the Institute for Solar Physics as well as the observers for the individual images. Observers come from our own staff as well as from many visiting groups.

Gallery

 

History

The Institute was first established as The Research Station for Astrophysics in 1951 on the island of Capri, Italy, by the late professor Yngve Öhman. Around 1980 the station moved to La Palma in the Canary Islands. Reconstruction was made possible by large donations from Mrs. Margareta Dahlberg and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The new station is situated within the Spanish-International Observatory on the Roque de los Muchachos.

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

Observatory on the Roque de los Muchachos

The superior astronomical climate on La Palma called for a first-class solar telescope: The 47.5-cm Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope, SVST, was erected in 1985. The SVST was removed from the tower on 28 August 2000 after almost 15 years of successful operations. It will get a new life at Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, CA, US.

Chabot Space and Science Center

The solar telescope and surroundings.
The solar telescope is located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, Spain. Photo: Dan Kiselman

The SVST has been replaced with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST), which has twice as large aperture.

The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST)

 

Find us

The institute is located in AlbaNova University Center, close to the main campuses of Stockholm University and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). AlbaNova University Center is Stockholm's center for physics, astronomy and biotechnology for Stockholm University and KTH.

Getting to the Institute for Solar Physics

Visiting address: Roslagstullsbacken 21, Stockholm.

By car

The recommended route for goods deliveries and visitors with cars is from the north. The northern side of AlbaNova is reached via Ruddammsvägen. Please note that Björnnäsvägen is closed.

AlbaNova can also be reached from the south via Körsbärsvägen or Roslagstullsbacken. Note, however, that special permission is required to bring vehicles to the south campus area.

By bus

Bus 61 stops at Ruddammen, close to the main entrance of AlbaNova. Bus 50 stops at Ingemarsgatan, about 5 minutes walking distance from the main entrance of AlbaNova.

See Stockholms länstrafik for time tables

By Metro

The closest metro station is Tekniska högskolan. From the exit marked Körsbärsvägen, you may take bus 61 directly to AlbaNova. To walk to AlbaNova, take the exit marked Körsbärsvägen.

See Stockholms länstrafik for time tables

 

Contact

The current director of the Institute for Solar Physics is Jorrit Leenaarts.

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