Observations signatures of coronal heating mechanisms in active region cores
Recent high resolution observations of the solar atmosphere (e.g., with SDO, Hinode, SST, IRIS) provide new powerful diagnostics of the mechanisms responsible for heating the solar corona. I will discuss how these new observations have enabled significant advances in our understanding of coronal heating properties in active regions. I will especially focus on coordinated IRIS/SDO/SST active region observations of nanoflare heated AR core loops to showcase the diagnostics potential of high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution chromospheric/transition region/coronal observations, when coupled with state-of-the-art (1D/3D) models.
I received my doctorate in Physics at the University of Palermo (Italy) with a thesis on the topic of coronal activity in the Sun and other stars. After my graduate studies I held a post-doctoral appointment at the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics at MIT, in the Chandra HETG group. My research focuses on understanding the heating mechanisms and X-ray emission processes in the hot outer layers of the atmosphere of the Sun and other stars, by combining observations with advanced numerical modeling. My interests encompass a wide range of astrophysical sources including the Sun, late-type main/pre-main sequence, and early-type stars. I am also involved in development and operations of space instrumentation, as co-I or instrument team member of several missions and of rocket experiments, including the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), the Hinode X-ray Telescope (XRT), the SDO Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS), the Hi-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C), and the upcoming Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) NASA MIDEX mission and EUV high-throughput Spectroscopic Telescope (EUVST) mission.