The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)/Visible Broadband Imager (VBI)

Abstract

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is a ground-based observatory for observations of the solar atmosphere featuring an unprecedented entrance aperture of four meters. To address its demanding scientific goals, DKIST features innovative and state-of-the-art instrument subsystems that are fully integrated with the facility and designed to be capable of operating mostly simultaneously. An important component of DKIST’s first-light instrument suite is the Visible Broadband Imager (VBI). The VBI is an imaging instrument that aims to acquire images of the solar photosphere and chromosphere with high spatial resolution and high temporal cadence to investigate the to-date smallest detectable features and their dynamics in the solar atmosphere. VBI observations of unprecedented spatial resolution ultimately will be able to inform modern numerical models and thereby allow new insights into the physics of the plasma motion at the smallest scales measurable by DKIST. The VBI was designed to deliver images at various wavelengths and at the diffraction limit of DKIST. The diffraction limit is achieved by using adaptive optics in conjunction with post-facto image-reconstruction techniques to remove residual effects of the terrestrial atmosphere. The first images of the VBI demonstrate that DKIST’s optical system enables diffraction-limited imaging across a large field of view of various layers in the solar atmosphere. These images allow a first glimpse at the exciting scientific discoveries that will be possible with DKIST’s VBI.