Employing coronagraphic and EUV observations close to the solar surface made by the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission, we determined the heliocentric distance of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at the starting time of associated metric type II bursts. We used the wave diameter and leading edge methods and measured the CME heights for a set of 32 metric type II bursts from solar cycle 24. We minimized the projection effects by making the measurements from a view that is roughly orthogonal to the direction of the ejection. We also chose image frames close to the onset times of the type II bursts, so no extrapolation was necessary. We found that the CMEs were located in the heliocentric distance range from 1.20 to 1.93 solar radii (Rs), with mean and median values of 1.43 and 1.38 Rs, respectively. We conclusively find that the shock formation can occur at heights substantially below 1.5 Rs. In a few cases, the CME height at type II onset was close to 2 Rs. In these cases, the starting frequency of the type II bursts was very low, in the range 25 -40 MHz, which confirms that the shock can also form at larger heights. The starting frequencies of metric type II bursts have a weak correlation with the measured CME/shock heights and are consistent with the rapid decline of density with height in the inner corona.

A multiwavelength photometric analysis was performed in order to study the sub‐structure of a sunspot light bridge in the photosphere and the chromosphere. Active region NOAA 8350 was observed on 1998 October 8. The data consist of a 100 min time series of 2D spectral scans of the lines Fe i 5576 Å, Hα 6563 Å, Fe i 6302.5 Å, and continuum images at 5571 Å. We recorded line‐of‐sight magnetograms in 6302.5 Å. The observations were taken at the Dunn Solar Telescope at US National Solar Observatory, Sacramento Peak. We find evidence for plasma ejection from a light bridge followed by Ellerman bombs. Magnetograms of the same region reveal opposite polarity in light bridge with respect to the umbra. These facts support the notion that low‐altitude magnetic reconnection can result in the magnetic cancellation as observed in the photosphere.

The first space-borne solar astronomy experiment of India, namely "Solar X-ray Spectrometer (SOXS)", was successfully launched on 08 May 2003 on board geostationary satellite GSAT-2 of India. The SOXS is composed of two independent payloads, viz. SOXS Low-Energy Detector (SLD) Payload and SOXS High-Energy Detector (SHD) Payload. The SOXS aims to study the full-disk integrated X-ray emission in the energy range from 4 keV to 10 MeV. In this paper we present the first report on the SLD instrumentation and its in-orbit performance. The SLD payload was designed and developed at the Physical Research Laboratory in collaboration with various centers of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The basic scientific aim of the SLD payload is to study solar flares in the energy range from 4 to 60 keV with high spectral and temporal resolution. To meet these requirements, the SLD payload employs state-of-the-art solid state detectors, the first time for a solar astronomy experiment, viz. Si PIN (4 -25 keV), and cadmiumzinc-telluride (4 -60 keV). With their superb high-energy resolution characteristics, SLD can observe iron and iron-nickel complex lines that are visible only during solar flares. In view of its 3.4 • FOV, the detector package is mounted on a Sun Aspect System, for the first time, to get uninterrupted observations in a geostationary orbit. The SLD payload configuration, its in-flight operation, and the response of the detectors are presented. We also present the first observations of solar flares made by the SLD payload and briefly describe their temporal and spectral mode results.

An analysis of high-resolution Dopplergrams and continuum images of NOAA AR 8350 is presented. The observations were recorded with the universal birefringent filter attached to the Dunn Solar Telescope at the National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico. We find upward velocity of the order of 400 m s within Ϫ1 umbral dots, surrounded by downward velocity of the order of 300 m s. This observation is compatible with Ϫ1 the simulations of three-dimensional radiative magnetoconvection with gray radiative transfer in sunspot umbra by Schüssler & Vögler, which support the idea that umbral dots appear as a result of magnetoconvection.