Performance Testing of an Off-Limb Solar Adaptive Optics System

TL;DR

This paper evaluates an off-limb solar adaptive optics system designed to enable high-resolution spectro-polarimetric observations of solar prominences, addressing previous limitations in spatial resolution and temporal cadence.

Contribution

It presents the performance assessment and expected capabilities of a novel off-limb AO system for solar prominence observations at the { ext{CaII}} 8542A wavelength.

Findings

AO system achieves near diffraction-limited performance

Expected high spatial resolution at sub-arcsecond scales

Enhanced temporal cadence for dynamic prominence studies

Abstract

Long-exposure spectro-polarimetry in the near-infrared is a preferred method to measure the magnetic field and other physical properties of solar prominences. In the past, it has been very difficult to observe prominences in this way with sufficient spatial resolution to fully understand their dynamical properties. Solar prominences contain highly transient structures, visible only at small spatial scales; hence they must be observed at sub-arcsecond resolution, with a high temporal cadence. An adaptive optics (AO) system capable of directly locking-on to prominence structure away from the solar limb has the potential to allow for diffraction-limited spectro-polarimetry of solar prominences. In this paper, the performance of the off-limb AO system and its expected performance, at the desired science wavelength {\CaII} 8542A, are shown.