CMAG: A Mission to Study and Monitor the Inner Corona Magnetic Field-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

CMAG: A Mission to Study and Monitor the Inner Corona Magnetic Field

Published:2023-11-23 Issue:12 Volume:10 Page:987
ISSN:2226-4310
Container-title:Aerospace
language:en
Short-container-title:Aerospace

Author:

Orozco Suárez David¹²^ORCID,del Toro Iniesta Jose Carlos¹²^ORCID,Bailén Martínez Francisco Javier¹²^ORCID,Balaguer Jiménez María¹²,Álvarez García Daniel¹²,Serrano Daniel³,Peñin Luis F.³,Vázquez-Ramos Alicia⁴^ORCID,Bellot Rubio Luis Ramón¹²^ORCID,Atienzar Julia¹²,Pérez Grande Isabel²⁵,Torralbo Gimeno Ignacio²⁵^ORCID,Sanchis Kilders Esteban²⁶^ORCID,Gasent Blesa José Luis²⁶^ORCID,Hernández Expósito David²⁷^ORCID,Ruiz Cobo Basilio²⁷^ORCID,Trujillo Bueno Javier⁷⁸⁹,Erdélyi Robertus¹⁰¹¹¹²^ORCID,Davies Jackie A.¹³^ORCID,Green Lucie M.¹⁴^ORCID,Matthews Sarah A.¹⁴^ORCID,Long David M.¹⁵^ORCID,Mathioudakis Michail¹⁵,Kintziger Christian¹⁶^ORCID,Leenaarts Jorrit¹⁷,Fineschi Silvano¹⁸,Scullion Eamon¹⁹

Affiliation:

1. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Apdo. de Correos 3004, E-18080 Granada, Spain

2. Spanish Space Solar Physics Consortium (S3PC), 18008 Granada, Spain

3. SENER Aerospace, Severo Ochoa 4, E-28760 Tres Cantos, Spain

4. Departamento de Física Teórica y del Cosmos (DFTC), Universidad de Granada (UGR), Campus de Fuentenueva, E-18071 Granada, Spain

5. Instituto de Microgravedad “Ignacio da Riva”, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Plaza Cardenal Cisneros 3, E-28040 Madrid, Spain

6. Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat de València Estudi General (UVEG), Avda. de la Universitat s/n, E-46100 Burjassot, Spain

7. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea, s/n, E-28080 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

8. Departamento de Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38200 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

9. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28006 Madrid, Spain

10. Solar Physics & Space Plasma Research Center (SP2RC), School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK

11. Department of Astronomy, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary

12. Gyula Bay Zoltan Solar Observatory (GSO), Hungarian Solar Physics Foundation (HSPF), Petofi tér 3., H-5700 Gyula, Hungary

13. STFC-RAL Space, Harwell Campus, Didcot, Oxford OX11 0QX, UK

14. Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, Surrey, Dorking RH5 6NT, UK

15. Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK

16. Centre Spatial de Liège, STAR Institute, University of Liège (ULiège), B-4000 Liège, Belgium

17. Department of Astronomy, Institute for Solar Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Centre, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

18. INAF—Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy

19. Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK

Abstract

Measuring magnetic fields in the inner corona, the interface between the solar chromosphere and outer corona, is of paramount importance if we aim to understand the energetic transformations taking place there, and because it is at the origin of processes that lead to coronal heating, solar wind acceleration, and of most of the phenomena relevant to space weather. However, these measurements are more difficult than mere imaging because polarimetry requires differential photometry. The coronal magnetograph mission (CMAG) has been designed to map the vector magnetic field, line-of-sight velocities, and plane-of-the-sky velocities of the inner corona with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions from space. This will be achieved through full vector spectropolarimetric observations using a coronal magnetograph as the sole instrument on board a spacecraft, combined with an external occulter installed on another spacecraft. The two spacecraft will maintain a formation flight distance of 430 m for coronagraphic observations, which requires a 2.5 m occulter disk radius. The mission will be preferentially located at the Lagrangian L5 point, offering a significant advantage for solar physics and space weather research. Existing ground-based instruments face limitations such as atmospheric turbulence, solar scattered light, and long integration times when performing coronal magnetic field measurements. CMAG overcomes these limitations by performing spectropolarimetric measurements from space with an external occulter and high-image stability maintained over time. It achieves the necessary sensitivity and offers a spatial resolution of 2.5″ and a temporal resolution of approximately one minute, in its nominal mode, covering the range from 1.02 solar radii to 2.5 radii. CMAG relies on proven European technologies and can be adapted to enhance any other solar mission, offering potential significant advancements in coronal physics and space weather modeling and monitoring.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Aerospace Engineering

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/10/12/987/pdf

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