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ADAHELI (ADvanced Astronomy for HELIophysics) is a small-class (500 kg) low-budget (50 MEuro) satellite mission for the study of the solar photosphere and the chromosphere and for monitoring solar flare emission. ADAHELI’s design has completed its Phase-A feasibility study in December 2008, in the framework of ASI’s (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) 2007 “Small Missions” Program (calling for two missions at 50 MEeuros each, plus the launch budget). ADAHELI’s main purpose is to explore Sun’s lower atmosphere in the near-infrared, a region so far unexplored by solar observations from space. ADAHELI will carry out observations of the solar photosphere and of the chromosphere at high-temporal rate and high spatial and spectral resolutions. ADAHELI will contribute to the understanding of Space Weather through the study of particle acceleration during flares. A radiometer operating in the millimeter radio band will continuously monitor the solar disk, throughout the spacecraft’s life time. ADAHELI’s baseline instruments are a 50-cm high-resolution telescope operating in the visible and the near-infrared, and a lightweight full-disk radiometer operating at millimeter wavelengths (90 GHz). The core of the telescope’s focal plane suite is the spectral imager based on two Fabry-Perot interferometers, flying for the first time on a solar mission. The instrument will return fast-cadence, full bi-dimensional spectral images at high-resolution, thus improving on current slit-scan, mono-dimensional architectures. Moreover, the possibility of working in polarized light will enable full 3D magnetic field reconstruction on the photosphere and the chromosphere. An optional instrumental package is also being proposed to further extend ADAHELI’s scope: a full-disk telescope for helioseismology based on a double Magneto-Optical Filter, a Neutral Particle Analyzer for magnetospheric research, an Extreme Ultraviolet imaging and spectro-radiometry instrument. These options fall outside the prescribed budget. ADAHELI, flying a Sun-Synchronous orbit at 800 km, will perform continuous, long-duration (4-h), daily acquisitions, with the possibility of extending them up to 24 h. ADAHELI’s operating life is two years, plus one extension year. Launch would be nominally planned for 2014.

Introduction: The aim of this study is to investigate the nanocrystallization of steels caused by the transformation from the austenitic to the martensitic phase induced by a severe plastic deformation (SPD) treatment. In this framework, we applied an air blast shot peening treatment, which is a simple protocol widely used for industrial purposes. Methods: AISI 286 and AISI 316 specimens were peened for different times and polished using diamond pastes in order to remove corrugations higher than 1 mu m. The characterization of the steel surfaces was performed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) operating in contact mode. Additional EDXD measurements were performed to confirm the phase transition. Results and Discussion: An AFM-based characterization at nanometric level of the steel surfaces is provided. When the peening exceeds a threshold time that, as expected, depends on the steel composition, a uniform nanostructuration is detected. It is well known that such rearrangement is associated to the growth of a martensitic phase. To date, AFM has been employed in this field only for few applications and to solve specific problems. On the other hand, our results demonstrate that this is a useful technique for the characterization of hardened surfaces, especially when non-destructive sample preparation treatments are required. Moreover, we show that AFM can be a useful tool also for in situ industrial diagnostics of metallic parts.

"Solar Convection and Oscillations and their Relationship", F.Pijpers, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard and C.S. Rosenthal eds.