The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI)
Abstract
The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI), a SMEX mission concept in Phase A, is the first-ever solar-dedicated, direct-imaging, hard X-ray telescope. FOXSI provides a revolutionary new approach to viewing explosive magnetic-energy release on the Sun by detecting signatures of accelerated electrons and hot plasma directly in and near the energy-release sites of solar eruptive events (e.g., solar flares). FOXSI's primary science objective is to understand the mystery of how impulsive energy release leads to solar eruptions, the primary drivers of space weather at Earth, and how those eruptions are energized and evolve. FOXSI addresses three important science questions: (1) How are particles accelerated at the Sun? (2) How do solar plasmas get heated to high temperatures? (3) How does magnetic energy released on the Sun lead to flares and eruptions? These fundamental physics questions are key to our understanding of phenomena throughout the Universe from planetary magnetospheres to black hole accretion disks. FOXSI measures the energy distributions and spatial structure of accelerated electrons throughout solar eruptive events for the first time by directly focusing hard X-rays from the Sun. This naturally enables high imaging dynamic range, while previous instruments have typically been blinded by bright emission. FOXSI provides 20-100 times more sensitivity as well as 20 times faster imaging spectroscopy than previously available, probing physically relevant timescales (<1 second) never before accessible. FOXSI's launch in July 2022 is aligned with the peak of the 11-year solar cycle, enabling FOXSI to observe the many large solar eruptions that are expected to take place throughout its two-year mission.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #234
- Pub Date:
- June 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23422501C