Heliophysics | Aneta Wiśniewska Solar Physics

Exploring Solar Phenomena

Research Interests

Local and global Helioseismlogy
Solar flares
Oscillation inside Coronal Holes
Solar Prominences
Holistic concept of Space Weather
Instrument design and development for solar spectroscopy and imaging
Image processing
Data analysis

Observatorio del Teide, Izaña, Tenerife, Spain. @ KIS/ A.Wisniewska

Position
Postdoctoral Researcher
in Solar Physics

Department

Solar Physics
Astronomical Institute Slovak Academy of Sciences,

Tatranska Lomnica, Slovakia

Research Projects

Credit @ nasa.gov

Helioseismology

Our knowledge of the Sun’s interior is still surprisingly limited. Deep inside, the Sun generates powerful magnetic fields that rise through its layers, shaping everything from the surface to the corona. At the same time, the Sun is constantly vibrating, producing sound waves across a wide range of frequencies. These waves don’t just skim the surface — depending on their frequency, they can dive into the inner layers or travel upward into the atmosphere.
Helioseismology makes it possible to study these acoustic waves in both directions, offering valuable insight into the Sun’s hidden structure. Today, both global and local helioseismology are among the most advanced methods for exploring acoustic processes inside the solar interior and throughout the solar atmosphere.

Credit @ KIS/ C.Bethge

Seismology of Flares and Energetic Events - Space Weather Prediction

The Sun is an active star whose variability is driven by periodic changes in its magnetic field, most notably the 11-year activity cycle. Other expressions of solar activity include high-energy, impulsive events such as solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections — the most intense phenomena occurring in the solar atmosphere.
Over the past two decades, observations have revealed that internal solar pulsations can travel upward along magnetic field lines, transporting significant energy into the chromosphere and the corona. These waves, generated by deep convective motion, may act as triggers for energetic events.
By applying helioseismological techniques, we can probe the physical conditions beneath and around active regions, helping us understand why complex magnetic structures are capable of producing powerful plasma eruptions. Our long-term goal is to measure and identify the mechanisms that initiate these eruptions, ultimately improving space-weather forecasting.

Observations of the Sun

Solar physics relies fundamentally on scientific data obtained from solar observations. The dynamic processes occurring within the solar atmosphere are highly multidimensional and strongly influenced by the configuration of the magnetic field. For this reason, research that combines polarimetric measurements with spectroscopy or high-resolution imaging has become essential.
Ground-based observations across different spectral lines remain extremely challenging due to Earth’s atmosphere, which introduces strong convective turbulence that distorts the collected data.
As a Principal Investigator on Europe’s largest solar telescopes — GREGOR and the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) in the Canary Islands — I have extensive scientific and practical experience in leading solar observing campaigns. Planning and coordinating observations with both ground-based and space-borne instruments is a core element of my research work. I continuously expand my expertise in this field to improve the quality and precision of solar diagnostics.