Magnetohydrodynamic Motions: Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope’s Window into the Dynamic Sun

The heating of the solar corona directly drives its radiative output in the EUV and X-ray bands. Understanding this emission in solar-like stars is of broad importance, with ramifications for stellar physics and the atmospheres of surrounding planets—making it a central question in astrophysics. Equally important, though less discussed, is how the chromosphere is heated.

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are leading contenders for explaining plasma heating, with observational ubiquity and modeling suggesting they can deliver enough power to heat some of the regions of the Sun. However, many physical aspects remain poorly observed, especially how waves within magnetic structures transport energy and momentum between atmospheric layers. Beyond heating, MHD waves are also linked to cooling via thermal instabilities and are instrumental for probing local plasma conditions through magneto-seismology.

The advent of next-generation facilities has transformed this field, as unprecedented resolution now allows researchers to study the fine structure of magnetic waveguides across the solar atmosphere. High spectral, spatial, and temporal sampling is yielding vital new insights into wave generation, damping processes, and energy transfer between layers. Multi-channel capabilities further enable simultaneous observations of different atmospheric regions, while advances in spectropolarimetry add new dimensions to solar diagnostics.

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST), the world’s largest operational ground-based solar telescope with a 4-meter aperture, represents a major advance. First light was achieved in 2019, with initial science observations in 2022. DKIST’s spatial resolution of around 16 km and short cadences provide detailed views of the solar atmosphere. As its first data sets become publicly available, there is timely interest in research focused on solar waves in the era of DKIST. This research topic aims to explore how DKIST and novel instruments like Integral Field Units (IFUs) can advance our understanding of MHD wave modes in the solar atmosphere.

This thematic collection focuses on new research implementing these high-resolution data sets with respect to MHD modes. We also welcome select reviews summarizing past work and exploring how these cutting-edge facilities can help answer unresolved questions in this field.

The Editors are particularly interested in:

• Studies that leverage the full spatial resolution potential of DKIST with small-scale waveguides.
• Studies that utilise the unique instruments, e.g., the cryo-NIRSP instrument, for high resolution studies of MHD modes.
• Studies that employ novel spectropolarimetric observations of MHD waves
• Studies of MHD waves with high resolution simulations that can aid the direction of observers utilizing facilities such as DKIST.

Collecting studies on the themes above will help us interpret the latest findings from facilities like DKIST and guide future research directions and proposals involving this facility.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Technology and Code

Keywords: MHD, Waves, Oscillations, High Resolution, DKIST, Solar, Solar Chromosphere, Heating, Instrumentation, Simulations

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.