Ambient acoustic imaging in helioseismology

The increasing availability of high spatial resolution data of velocity and intensity variations on the Sun has stimulated the development of helioseismological techniques that probe the solar interior in localized regions. The techniques developed so far have yielded information on physical quantit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1997-10, Vol.389 (6653), p.825-827
Main Authors: Chang, Hsiang-Kuang, Chou, Dean-Yi, LaBonte, Barry, the TON Team
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Oscillations and waves. Helioseismology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Scientific imaging
Sensors
Solar physics
Solar system
Sun
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Summary:The increasing availability of high spatial resolution data of velocity and intensity variations on the Sun has stimulated the development of helioseismological techniques that probe the solar interior in localized regions. The techniques developed so far have yielded information on physical quantities (such as the flow velocity and magnetic field) below the surface, but are still far from providing a detailed picture of local subsurface inhomogeneities. Here we report the development and application of a new method for constructing three-dimensional solar images, utilizing acoustic noise (or stochastic P-mode oscillations) in the Sun. We treat a region of the solar surface as a phased array of acoustic sensors, which acts as a computational 'lens'; acoustic waves 'scattered' by local inhomogeneities, such as sunspots, are collected and summed in phase, based on the knowledge of how (on average) they travel within the Sun. In this way, we are able to construct a three-dimensional image of a region of the solar interior.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/39822