Metis: the Solar Orbiter visible light and ultraviolet coronal imager

Abstract

Metis is the first solar coronagraph designed for a space mission capable of performing simultaneous imaging of the off-limb solar corona in both visible and UV light. The observations obtained with Metis aboard the Solar Orbiter ESA-NASA observatory will enable us to diagnose, with unprecedented temporal coverage and spatial resolution, the structures and dynamics of the full corona from 1.7 $R_{\odot }$ to about 9 $R_{\odot }$. Due to the uniqueness of the Solar Orbiter mission profile, Metis will be able to observe the solar corona from a close vantage point (down to 0.28 AU), achieving out-of-ecliptic views with the increase of the orbit inclination over time. Moreover, observations near perihelion, during the phase of lower rotational velocity of the solar surface relative to the spacecraft, will allow longer-term studies of the coronal features. Thanks to a novel occultation design and a combination of a UV interference coating of the mirrors and a spectral bandpass filter, Metis images the solar corona simultaneously in the visible light band, between 580 and 640 nm, and in the UV H I Lyman-α line at 121.6 nm. The coronal images in both the UV Lyman-α and polarised visible light are obtained at high spatial resolution with a spatial scale down to about 2000 km and 15000 km at perihelion, in the cases of the visible and UV light, respectively. A temporal resolution down to 1 second can be achieved when observing coronal fluctuations in visible light. The Metis measurements will allow for complete characterisation of the main physical parameters and dynamics of the electron and neutral hydrogen/proton plasma components of the corona in the region where the solar wind undergoes acceleration and where the onset and initial propagation of coronal mass ejections take place, thus significantly improving our understanding of the region connecting the Sun to the heliosphere.

References in corpus (14)

• The Solar Orbiter mission -- Science overview
• The solar magnetic field
• The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on Solar Orbiter
• Measurements of 0.2 to 20 GeV/n cosmic-ray proton and helium spectra from 1997 through 2002 with the BESS spectrometer
• The Solar Orbiter Science Activity Plan: translating solar and heliospheric physics questions into action
• The Effect of Proton Temperature Anisotropy on the Solar Minimum Corona and Wind
• A Novel Rate Control Algorithm for Onboard Predictive Coding of Multispectral and Hyperspectral Images
• Radial evolution of intermittency of density fluctuations in the fast solar wind
• Determination of Coronal Mass Ejection physical parameters from combination of polarized visible light and UV Lyman-$\alpha$ observations
• Plasma diagnostic in eruptive prominences from SDO/AIA observations at 304 Å
• Hot prominence detected in the core of a Coronal Mass Ejection: III. Plasma filling factor from UVCS Lyman-$\alpha$ and Lyman-$\beta$ observations
• Detection of plasma fluctuations in white-light images of the outer solar corona: investigation of the spatial and temporal evolution
• Future capabilities of CME polarimetric 3D reconstructions with the METIS instrument: A numerical test
• Neutral Hydrogen and its Emission Lines in the Solar Corona

Cited by in corpus (54)

• The Solar Orbiter mission -- Science overview
• The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on Solar Orbiter
• The Solar Orbiter Science Activity Plan: translating solar and heliospheric physics questions into action
• Waves in the lower solar atmosphere: the dawn of next-generation solar telescopes
• Observation of Magnetic Switchback in the Solar Corona
• Defining the Middle Corona
• First light observations of the solar wind in the outer corona with the Metis coronagraph
• Exploring the Solar Wind from its Source on the Corona into the Inner Heliosphere during the First Solar Orbiter - Parker Solar Probe Quadrature
• First Perihelion of EUI on the Solar Orbiter mission
• Direct observations of a complex coronal web driving highly structured slow solar wind
• Analysis of large deflections of prominence-CME events during the rising phase of solar cycle 24
• Validation of a wave heated 3D MHD coronal-wind model using Polarized Brightness and EUV observations
• Propagation of Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun to Earth
• A revised cone model and its application to non-radial prominence eruptions
• Modeling of Joint Parker Solar Probe - Metis/Solar Orbiter Observations
• A Coronal Mass Ejection followed by a prominence eruption and a plasma blob as observed by Solar Orbiter
• Tracking the 3D evolution of a halo coronal mass ejection using the revised cone model
• Slow wind belt in the quiet solar corona
• Beyond the disk: EUV coronagraphic observations of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on board Solar Orbiter
• The S-Web Origin of Composition Enhancement in the Slow-to-Moderate Speed Solar Wind
• In-flight validation of Metis Visible-light Polarimeter Coronagraph on board Solar Orbiter
• Recurrent galactic cosmic-ray flux modulation in L1 and geomagnetic activity during the declining phase of the solar cycle 24
• Propagation of untwisting solar jets from the low-beta corona into the super-Alfvénic wind: Testing a solar origin scenario for switchbacks
• Combining White Light and UV Lyman-alpha Coronagraphic Images to determine the Solar Wind Speed: the Quick Inversion Method
• Connecting the Low to High Corona: Propagating Disturbances as Tracers of the Near-Sun Solar Wind
• Rapid Rotation of an Erupting Prominence and the Associated Coronal Mass Ejection on 13 May 2013
• Slow Solar Wind Connection Science during Solar Orbiter's First Close Perihelion Passage
• CAMEL. II. A 3D Coronal Mass Ejection Catalog Based on Coronal Mass Ejection Automatic Detection with Deep Learning
• Cosmic-ray flux predictions and observations for and with Metis on board Solar Orbiter
• SPICE Connection Mosaics to link the Sun's surface and the heliosphere
• Synthetic Remote-sensing and In-situ Observations of Fine-scale Structure in a Pseudostreamer Coronal Mass Ejection through the Solar Corona
• Empirical relations between the intensities of Lyman lines of H and He${}^{+}$
• Effects of the chromospheric Lyα line profile shape on the determination of the solar wind HI outflow velocity using the Doppler dimming technique
• Observations of the Solar F-corona from Space
• Turbulence dynamics and flow speeds in the inner solar corona: Results from radio-sounding experiments by the Akatsuki spacecraft
• Contribution of polar plumes to fast solar wind
• CoSEE-Cat: A Comprehensive Solar Energetic Electron event Catalogue obtained from combined in situ and remote-sensing observations from Solar Orbiter -- Catalogue description and first statistical results
• Particle monitoring capability of the Solar Orbiter Metis coronagraph through the increasing phase of solar cycle 25
• First detection of acoustic-like flux in the middle solar corona
• Measuring the F-corona intensity through time correlation of total and polarized visible light images
• Is there a Dynamic Difference between Stealthy and Standard CMEs?
• Polarimetric Studies of a Fast Coronal Mass Ejection
• Does Turbulence along the Coronal Current Sheet Drive Ion Cyclotron Waves?
• Constraints on the variable nature of the slow solar wind with the Wide-Field Imager on board the Parker Solar Probe
• Magnetic Imaging of the Outer Solar Atmosphere (MImOSA): Unlocking the driver of the dynamics in the upper solar atmosphere
• Toroidal modified Miller-Turner CME model in EUHFORIA: II. Validation and comparison with flux rope and spheromak
• Probing the Density Fine Structuring of the Solar Corona with Comet Lovejoy
• Ion-scale Turbulence and Energy Cascade Rate in the Solar Corona and Inner Heliosphere
• Parameter effects on the total intensity of H I Lyα line for a modelled coronal mass ejection and its driven shock
• Radial Distributions of Coronal Electron Temperatures: specificities of the DYN model
• Comparative analysis of two episodes of strongly geoeffective CME events in November and December 2023
• Connecting Solar Orbiter remote-sensing observations and Parker Solar Probe in-situ measurements with a numerical MHD reconstruction of the Parker spiral
• A view of the evolution of a CME and the associated wave-trains at high spatial and temporal resolution
• Tracking solar wind flows from rapidly varying viewpoints by the Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe