The Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph Pathfinder Mission for the Detection of Coronal Suprathermal Seed Particles
Abstract
The Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder is a Naval Research Laboratory experiment designed to make the first detection of suprathermal seed particles close to the Sun. It uses an innovative “stacked” occulting system to significantly increase the effective light gathering power of a traditional, 1-meter length, externally occulted coronagraph. The external occultation in combination with a low scatter variable line spaced grating provide the stray light suppression needed to measure non-Maxwellian departures in the wings of the H Lyman alpha emission line profile. After the removal of other factors, these departures may be interpreted as the signature of suprathermal tails of the proton velocity distribution in the corona. UVSC Pathfinder will provide information on the origins and spatial/temporal variability of proton seed particle populations. We will discuss the accuracy needed to make such measurements and describe how the results can be used to develop a capability for predicting the onset of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) storms. The experiment is scheduled for a launch by the DoD Space Test Program in late 2018/early 2019 and should have excellent overlap with the Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus missions.UVSC Pathfinder is supported by funds from the Chief of Naval Research (via the NRL basic research program) and from NASA (via NDPR NNG13WF951 and NNH16AC29I).
- Publication:
-
AAS/Solar Physics Division Abstracts #47
- Pub Date:
- May 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016SPD....4730104S