The Solar Orbiter mission

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The Solar Orbiter mission

• Solar Orbiter represents a new approach to solar
  studies.
• A huge increase in discovery space
• The payload consists of a suite of 8 in-situ
  instruments and 5 remote sensing instruments (EUV
  Imager, EUV spectrometer, Visible-light imager/
  magnetograph, coronagraph and radiometer)

Orbit schematic
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Slow and fast solar wind
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The solar cycle variation of the solar wind
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The engineering challenge

• Solar Orbiter is a specially designed three-axis
  stabilised spacecraft.
• It is designed to always point its smallest face
  to the Sun so the spacecraft is protected by a
  sunshield.
• At closest approach to the Sun, Solar Orbiter
  will receive 25 times the radiation per square
  metre that the Earth does.
• The spacecraft will also be kept cool by the
  positioning of special 'radiators', which will
  dissipate excess heat into space.

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An Imager for Solar Orbiter
The Solar Orbiter mission is a key mission for
solar system science.

• Fundamental physical processes (waves/magnetic
  reconnection/dynamo)
• Linking the Sun and the inner heliosphere
• Exploring the solar atmosphere out of the
  ecliptic (slow and fast solar wind)

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Fundamental physical processes
G-band
Ca II

• We can, with excellent seeing, resolve 70 km in
  the photosphere with a ground-based telescope.
• SO will allow us to do better than this even in
  the corona! (and more than an order of magnitude
  better than currently possible e.g. TRACE 750km).
• At this resolution we will be able to observe MHD
  waves and reconnection at the fundamental
  physical scales.

Rutten et al., 2003
3-D modelling showing the interaction between
magnetic field and convection
Cattaneo, Emonet and Weiss, 2003
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Observing up close

• This resolution will allow us to observe magnetic
  loops at their fundamental size.
• The smaller the scale, the more (rapid) activity
  we observe (TRACE observes with time resolution
  of seconds).

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Factor of 100
Factor of 5
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Linking up with in situ
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Current Status

• The current schedule is for the AO to be released
  in 2007 (ish).
• Call for Letters of Intent to Propose for the
  Solar Orbiter payload in advance of the formal AO
  (this summer!).
• The launch date is now most likely 2017 - with
  4.5 yrs to get into orbit.
• We have been working here on technology
  development for the mission for several years -
  this will continue!