The Solar Probe ANalyzers -- Electrons on Parker Solar Probe

Abstract

Electrostatic analyzers of different designs have been used since the earliest days of the space age, beginning with the very earliest solar wind measurements made by Mariner 2 en route to Venus in 1962. The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission, NASA's first dedicated mission to study the innermost reaches of the heliosphere, makes its thermal plasma measurements using a suite of instruments called the Solar Wind Electrons, Alphas, and Protons (SWEAP) investigation. SWEAP's electron Parker Solar Probe Analyzer (SPAN-E) instruments are a pair of top-hat electrostatic analyzers on PSP that are capable of measuring the electron distribution function in the solar wind from 2 eV to 30 keV. For the first time, in-situ measurements of thermal electrons provided by SPAN-E will help reveal the heating and acceleration mechanisms driving the evolution of the solar wind at the points of acceleration and heating, closer than ever before to the Sun. This paper details the design of the SPAN-E sensors and their operation, data formats, and measurement caveats from Parker Solar Probe's first two close encounters with the Sun.

This draft has been Accepted in the Astrophysical Journal Special issue for Parker Solar Probe

References in corpus (2)

• The Solar Probe Cup on Parker Solar Probe
• Self-induced Scattering of Strahl Electrons in the Solar Wind

Cited by in corpus (65)

• Parker Solar Probe: Four Years of Discoveries at Solar Cycle Minimum
• A solar source of Alfvénic magnetic field switchbacks: {\em in situ} remnants of magnetic funnels on supergranulation scales
• Parker Solar Probe observations of proton beams simultaneous with ion-scale waves
• In situ observations of large amplitude Alfvén waves heating and accelerating the solar wind
• Characteristic scales of magnetic switchback patches near the Sun and their possible association with solar supergranulation and granulation
• Switchbacks: statistical properties and deviations from alfvénicity
• Inner-Heliosphere Signatures of Ion-Scale Dissipation and Nonlinear Interaction
• Strong perpendicular velocity-space in proton beams observed by Parker Solar Probe
• Electron heat flux in the near-Sun environment
• The Radial Evolution of the Solar Wind as Organized by Electron Distribution Parameters
• Turbulence characteristics of switchbacks and non-switchbacks intervals observed by \emph{Parker Solar Probe}
• Whistler wave occurrence and the interaction with strahl electrons during the first encounter of Parker Solar Probe
• Direct evidence for magnetic reconnection at the boundaries of magnetic switchbacks with Parker Solar Probe
• On the Mesoscale Structure of CMEs at Mercury's Orbit: BepiColombo and Parker Solar Probe Observations
• Proton Core Behaviour Inside Magnetic Field Switchbacks
• Kinetic-scale current sheets in near-Sun solar wind: properties, scale-dependent features and reconnection onset
• Parker Solar Probe evidence for scattering of electrons in the young solar wind by narrowband whistler-mode waves
• Quantifying the Energy Budget in the Solar Wind from 13.3-100 Solar Radii
• The radial variation of the solar wind turbulence spectra near the kinetic break scale from Parker Solar Probe measurements
• Solar wind energy flux observations in the inner heliosphere: First results from Parker Solar Probe
• Small-scale Magnetic Flux Ropes in the First two Parker Solar Probe Encounters
• Narrowband oblique whistler-mode waves: Comparing properties observed by Parker Solar Probe at <0.2 AU and STEREO at 1 AU
• Small-scale Magnetic Flux Ropes with Field-aligned Flows via the PSP In-situ Observations
• Flux rope merging and the structure of switchbacks in the solar wind
• Could switchbacks originate in the lower solar atmosphere? I. Formation mechanisms of switchbacks
• The Structure and Origin of Switchbacks: Parker Solar Probe Observations
• On the Generation and Evolution of Switchbacks and the Morphology of Alfvénic Transition: Low Mach-number Boundary Layers
• Determination of Solar Wind Angular Momentum and Alfvén Radius from Parker Solar Probe Observations
• The preferential orientation of magnetic switchbacks, implications for solar magnetic flux transport
• Core Electron Heating By Triggered Ion Acoustic Waves In The Solar Wind
• Core Electron Heating By Triggered And Ordinary Ion Acoustic Waves In The Solar Wind
• Whistler Wave Observations by \textit{Parker Solar Probe} During Encounter $1$: Counter-Propagating Whistlers Collocated with Magnetic Field Inhomogeneities and their Application to Electric Field Measurement Calibration
• Estimation of turbulent proton and electron heating rates via Landau damping constrained by Parker Solar Probe observations
• Total Electron Temperature Derived from Quasi-Thermal Noise Spectroscopy In the Pristine Solar Wind: Parker Solar Probe Observations
• Parker Solar Probe Observations of High Plasma Beta Solar Wind from Streamer Belt
• Compositional metrics of fast and slow Alfvenic solar wind emerging from coronal holes and their boundaries
• The Solar Wind Angular Momentum Flux as Observed by Parker Solar Probe
• Are Switchback boundaries observed by Parker Solar Probe closed?
• Thermal energy budget of electrons in the inner heliosphere: Parker Solar Probe Observations
• The Contribution of Alpha Particles to the Solar Wind Angular Momentum Flux in the Inner Heliosphere
• The Stability of the Electron Strahl against the Oblique Fast-magnetosonic/Whistler Instability in the Inner Heliosphere
• Parker Solar Probe Observations of Suprathermal Electron Flux Enhancements Originating from Coronal Hole Boundaries
• The Temperature, Electron, and Pressure Characteristics of Switchbacks: Parker Solar Probe Observations
• Multi-spacecraft Study of the Solar Wind at Solar Minimum: Dependence on Latitude and Transient Outflows
• On the reason for the widespread energetic storm particle event of 13 March 2023
• Arguments for the physical nature of the triggered ion-acoustic waves observed on the Parker Solar Probe
• The Kinetic Expansion of Solar-Wind Electrons: Transport Theory and Predictions for the very Inner Heliosphere
• In Situ Measurements of Dark Photon Dark Matter Using Parker Solar Probe: Going beyond the Radio Window
• Near subsonic solar wind outflow from an active region
• Magnetic reconnection-driven energization of protons up to 400 keV at the near-Sun heliospheric current sheet
• Features of magnetic field switchbacks in relation to the local-field geometry of large-amplitude Alfvénic oscillations: \emph{Wind} and \emph{PSP} observations
• Parker Solar Probe observations of near-$f_{\mathrm{ce}}$ harmonics emissions in the near-Sun solar wind and their dependence on the magnetic field direction
• An improved technique for measuring plasma density to high frequencies on the Parker Solar Probe
• Switchbacks near Boundaries of Small-scale Magnetic Flux Ropes in the Young Solar Wind from Parker Solar Probe Observations
• Helium Abundance Periods Observed by the Solar Probe Cup on Parker Solar Probe: Encounters 1-14
• The impact of Alfvenic shear flow on magnetic reconnection and turbulence
• PSP/IS$\odot$IS Observation of a Solar Energetic Particle Event Associated With a Streamer Blowout Coronal Mass Ejection During Encounter 6
• Observing Particle Energization above the Nyquist Frequency: An Application of the Field-Particle Correlation Technique
• Small-scale magnetic flux ropes and their properties based on in-situ measurements from Parker Solar Probe
• Radial evolution of thermal and suprathermal electron populations in the slow solar wind from 0.13 to 0.5 au : Parker Solar Probe Observations
• Ambipolar electric field and potential in the solar wind estimated from electron velocity distribution functions
• Multi-point Assessment of the Kinematics of Shocks (MAKOS): A Heliophysics Mission Concept Study
• Parker Solar Probe observations of solar energetic particle (SEP) events with inverse velocity arrival (IVA) features
• Parker Solar Probe evidence for the absence of whistlers close to the Sun to scatter strahl and regulate heat flux
• The Heliospheric Ambipolar Potential Inferred from Sunward-Propagating Halo Electrons