Solar Imaging Radio Array (SIRA): Imaging solar, magnetospheric, and astrophysical sources at < 15 MHz

Details Solar Imaging Radio Array (SIRA): Imaging solar, magnetospheric, and astrophysical sources at < 15 MHz Solar Imaging Radio Array (SIRA): Imaging solar, magnetospheric, and astrophysical sources at < 15 MHz

Dec 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004dps....36.1424h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #36, #14.24; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 36, p.1097

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

The Solar Imaging Radio Array (SIRA) is a mission to perform aperture synthesis imaging of low frequency solar, magnetospheric, and astrophysical radio bursts. The primary science targets are coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which drive radio emission producing shock waves. A space-based interferometer is required, because the frequencies of observation (<15 MHz) do not penetrate the ionosphere. As such, the SIRA mission serves as a lower frequency counterpart to LWA, LOFAR, and similar ground-based radio imaging arrays. SIRA will require 12 to 16 microsatellites to establish a sufficient number of baselines with separations on the order of kilometers. The microsat constellation consists of microsats located quasi-randomly on a spherical shell, initially of radius 5 km or less. The baseline microsat is 3-axis stabilized with body-mounted solar arrays and an articulated, earth pointing high gain antenna. A retrograde orbit at 500,000 km from Earth was selected as the preferred orbit because it reduces the downlink requirement while keeping the microsats sufficiently distant from terrestrial radio interference. Also, the retrograde orbit permits imaging of terrestrial magnetospheric radio sources from varied perspectives. The SIRA mission serves as a pathfinder for space-based satellite constellations and for spacecraft interferometry at shorter wavelengths. It will be proposed to the NASA MIDEX proposal opportunity in mid-2005.

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