In the astrophysical literature, the inclusion of target names (generally required by the publishers) enables readers and search engines to find publications on the same target based on other observations or other analyses of the same observations. Even though targets are generally known by multiple names, multi-catalog services such as SIMBAD readily enable the mapping from one name standard to another.
Solar physics has done largely without such a target naming convention. One exception is the use of NOAA active region numbers, but even that is not enforced or standardized in the literature. Consequently, finding studies on a particular event is difficult, cannot be automated, and is often a matter of chance or serendipity. We propose to introduce a standardized convention for the identification of solar events in order to make (human and automated) searches for particular events vastly easier, and to facilitate the development of autonomous search software in, e.g., the Astrophysics Data System.
A solar-event naming convention should apply to all types of solar phenomena, be independent of the observatory perspective, and be as concise as possible so that minimal effort is needed for its use. In order for the names to be usable, they obviously need to contain time and location information. As solar events have an extent in both space and time, ranges may in principle be included, but we argue that this is not necessary: the association of events close in time and space can be left to the user of the search engine who can specify the desired ranges. Consequently, the minimal form of a Solar Object Locator (which nicely maps to 'SOL') contains only time (in UT, for events seen in, e.g., full-Sun lightcurves, such as the GOES flares, or for CMEs whose origin is unknown or ambiguous). The standard locator combines time with Carrington longitude and co-latitude (between 0 and 360 degrees and 0 and 180 degrees, respectively). A full locator could also contain a radial coordinate (in solar radii from Sun center, with fractions used for the solar interior).
Proposed standard for the identification of solar events:
(date and time in UT using the IAU approved FITS standard format; positive-definite Carrington longitude and co-latitude in degrees; radial distance from Sun center in solar radii).