Solaris: A Case for a Solar Polar Mission

Solar and Heliospheric physics has experienced a golden age of discovery over the past 20+ years, and the launches of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter promise to add exciting new observations and insights into our understanding of the Sun-Heliosphere system. So what is next? Although these missions have, and promise to continue to, revolutionize our understanding of the Sun, the one region that is still unexplored is the solar pole…the solar pole is one of the final frontiers of solar physics.

Solaris is a solar polar mission concept to address some of the fundamental questions that can only be answered from a polar vantage point. Solaris will obtain continuous, high latitude (>55 deg.) observations of the solar poles for multiple solar rotations, providing the continuity necessary to detect sub-surface flows and follow the evolution of solar transient activity. The Solaris mission will be able to obtain sustained coverage of the solar interior and atmosphere from high latitudes, providing a unique and comprehensive investigation of the global Sun and heliosphere.

This talk will discuss some of these questions and scientific drivers for a solar polar mission, such as Solaris, and the requirements these scientific objectives place on the observational and orbital requirements of the mission.