Abstract. Three traveling disturbances recorded in the absorption line of Helium I at 10 830 Å (He I), analogous to Hα Moreton waves, are analyzed. The morphology and kinematics of the wavefronts are described in detail. The He I wave appears as an expanding arc of increased absorption roughly corresponding to the Hα disturbance, although not as sharply defined. He I perturbations consist of a relatively uniform diffuse component and a patchy one that appears as enhanced absorption in He I mottles. It leads the Hα front by some 20 Mm and can be followed to considerably larger distances than in Hα observations. Behind the front stationary areas of reduced He I absorption develop, resembling EUV coronal dimming. The observed He I as well as the Hα disturbances show a deceleration of the order of 100-1000 m s −2 . Moreover, in the event where Hα, He I, and EUV wavefronts are observed, all of them follow closely related kinematical curves, indicating that they are a consequence of a common disturbance. The analysis of spatial perturbation profiles indicates that He I disturbances consist of a forerunner and a main dip, the latter being cospatial with the Hα disturbance. The properties and behavior of the wavefronts can be comprehended as a consequence of a fast-mode MHD coronal shock whose front is weakly inclined to the solar surface. The Hα disturbance and the main He I dip are a consequence of the pressure jump in the corona behind the shock front. The He I forerunner might be caused by thermal conduction from the oblique shock segments ahead of the shock-chromosphere intersection, or by electron beams accelerated in the quasi-perpendicular section of the shock.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a new powerful tool for observing the Sun at high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. These capabilities can address a broad range of fundamental scientific questions in solar physics. The radiation observed by ALMA originates mostly from the chromosphere -a complex and dynamic region between the photosphere and corona, which plays a crucial role in the transport of energy and matter and, ultimately, the heating of the outer layers of the solar atmosphere. Based on first solar test observations, strategies for regular solar campaigns are currently being developed. State-of-the-art numerical simulations of the solar atmosphere and modeling of instrumental effects can help constrain and optimize future observing modes for ALMA. Here we present a short technical description of ALMA and an overview of past efforts and future possibilities for solar observations at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths. In addition, selected numerical simulations and observations at other wavelengths demonstrate ALMA's scientific potential for studying the Sun for a large range of science cases.

The extended Greenwich data set consisting of positions of sunspot groups is used for the investigation of cycle-related variations of the solar rotation in the years 1874 -1981. Applying the residual method, which yields a single number for each year describing the average deviation from the mean value of the solar rotation, the dependence of the rotation velocity residual on the phase of the solar cycle is investigated. A secular deceleration of the solar rotation was found: the slope being statistically significant at the 3σ level. Periods of 33, 22, 11, 5.2, and 3.5 years can be identified in the power spectra. The rotation velocity residuals were averaged for all years with the same solar cycle phase relative to the nearest preceding sunspot minimum. The variation pattern reveals a higher than average rotation velocity in the minimum of activity and, to a lesser extent, also around the maximum of activity. The analysis was repeated with several changes in the reduction method, such as elimination of the secular trend, application of statistical weights, different cutoffs of the central meridian distance, division of the latitude into subregions and treating data from the years of activity minima separately. The results obtained are compared with those from the literature, and an interpretation of the observed phenomena is proposed.

The Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope has commenced science observations of the Sun starting in late 2016. Since the Sun is much larger than the field of view of individual ALMA dishes, the ALMA interferometer is unable to measure the background level of solar emission when observing the solar disk. The absolute temperature scale is a critical measurement for much of ALMA solar science, including the understanding of energy transfer through the solar atmosphere, the properties of prominences, and the study of shock heating in the chromosphere. In order to provide an absolute temperature scale, ALMA solar observing will take advantage of the remarkable fast-scanning capabilities of the ALMA 12 m dishes to make single-dish maps of the full Sun. This article reports on the results of an extensive commissioning effort to optimize the mapping procedure, and it describes the nature of the resulting data. Amplitude calibration is discussed in detail: a path that utilizes the two loads in the ALMA calibration system as well as sky measurements is described and applied to commissioning data. Inspection of a large number of single-dish datasets shows significant variation in the resulting temperatures, and based on the temperature distributions we derive quiet-Sun values at disk center of 7300 K at λ = 3 mm and 5900 K at λ = 1.3 mm. These values have statistical uncertainties of order 100 K, but systematic uncertainties in the temperature scale that may be significantly larger. Example images are presented from two periods with very different levels of solar activity. At a resolution of order 25 ′′ , the 1.3 mm wavelength images show temperatures on the disk that vary over about a 2000 K range. Active regions and plage are amongst the hotter features while a large sunspot umbra shows up as a depression and filament channels are relatively cool. Prominences above the solar limb are a common feature of the single-dish images.