Solar Observations Away from the Sun-Earth Line

Sarah E Gibson, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, United States, Scott William McIntosh, High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, CO, United States, Laurel Rachmeler, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, United States, Michael J Thompson, HAO/NCAR, Boulder, CO, United States, Alan M Title, Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Palo Alto, CA, United States, Marco Velli, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States and Angelos Vourlidas, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States
Abstract:
Observations from satellite missions have transformed the field of solar physics. High-resolution observations with near-continuous temporal coverage have greatly extended our capability for studying long-term and transient phenomena, and the opening of new regions of the solar spectrum has made detailed investigation of the solar atmosphere possible.

However, to date most solar space-based missions have been restricted to an observational vantage in the vicinity of the Sun-Earth line, either in orbit around the Earth or from the L1 Lagrangian point. As a result, observations from these satellites represent the same geometrical view of the Sun that is accessible from the Earth.

Understanding the deep interior structure of the Sun and the full development of solar activity would really benefit from fully three-dimensional monitoring of the solar atmosphere and heliosphere. On the one hand, simultaneous spacecraft observations from multiple vantage points would allow studies of the deep interior structure of the sun via stereoscopic helioseismology; on the other, distributed observations would allow the understanding of the complete evolution of activity complexes and enhance space weather predictions dramatically.

Presently, observations of the Sun away from Earth are obtained by the STEREO pair of satellites, which have provided an unprecedented global view by orbiting around to the far side of the Sun, and the Ulysses mission, which achieved a high-inclination (80˚) near-polar orbit (but which, however, did not include any solar imaging instruments). The forthcoming Solar Orbiter mission, which will orbit the sun and reach a maximum inclination of 34˚ out of the ecliptic should provide the first detailed mapping of the sun’s polar fields. In addition, Solar Probe Plus will explore the outer corona and inner Heliosphere with very rapid solar encounters at a minimum perihelion 9.86 solar radii from the center of the Sun.

We explore some of the new opportunities for solar physics that can be realized by future missions that provide sustained observations from vantage points away from the Sun-Earth line (and in some cases the ecliptic plane): observations from the far side of the Sun, over its poles, or from the L5 Lagrangian point.

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