Solar Polar Imager Vision Mission Study: Observing Solar Activity from a New Perspective

Details Solar Polar Imager Vision Mission Study: Observing Solar Activity from a New Perspective Solar Polar Imager Vision Mission Study: Observing Solar Activity from a New Perspective

Dec 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agufmsh24a..04l&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2004, abstract #SH24A-04

Physics

Plasma Physics

7500 Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy, 7522 Helioseismology, 7594 Instruments And Techniques, 7800 Space Plasma Physics, 7894 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

Our current understanding of the Sun and its atmosphere is severely limited by a lack of observations of the polar regions of the Sun. Here, we present a progress report on a NASA Vision Mission Study of a Solar Polar Imager mission which uses solar sail propulsion to place a spacecraft in a 0.5 AU circular orbit around the Sun with an inclination of 75 degrees. This first direct view of the polar regions of the Sun enables crucial observations not possible from the usual ecliptic viewpoint and gives measurements needed to address each aspect of the first challenge in the 2002 Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey Science Challenges: "Understanding the structure and dynamics of the Sun's interior, the generation of solar magnetic fields, the origin of the solar cycle, the causes of solar activity, and the structure and dynamics of the corona." The mission will obtain measurements of the magnetic fields and convective flows in the polar regions of the Sun that are crucial to understanding the solar magnetic dynamo. In addition, the SPI mission can give observations needed to achieve goals of NASA's Living With a Star program by viewing coronal mass ejections, the corona, the heliosphere, and the solar irradiance from the polar orbit.

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