SOTSP: ESIS/MOSES III -- HOP 380
2019-09-24T16:06:00 to 2019-09-24T18:57:00
Science Goal: Coordinated Observation with the ESIS/MOSES III Sounding Rocket
Program: Fast map, 230"x164", Q65, 1-side CCD
Target: disk center
xcen=-53 ycen=-39
Instrument: SOTSP
HOP/JOP: 380
Description:
Main Objective: To determine the causes and energetics of explosive events in the solar transition region, and to look for coupling of these events to the chromosphere and corona. Scientific Justification: We request support for an upcoming sounding rocket flight of two instruments, MOSES (Multi-Order Solar EUV Spectrograph) and ESIS (EUV Snapshot Imaging Spectrograph). Both are slitless spectrographs, but with multiple projections to help constrain the spectral interpretation over a wide field of view in a single snapshot. This approach uniquely enables a 3D (x,y,?x,y,lambdax,y,?) view of dynamic events in the solar atmosphere. MOSES has flown twice before. ESIS is a new instrument added for this flight. For the upcoming launch MOSES will image in Ne VII 465 A (formation temperature of ~.5 MK) and ESIS will image in O V 630 A (~.22 MK). MOSES and ESIS have a FOV of 20x10 armin and 10x10 armin respectively, which should allow for the capture of many explosive events over the course of the 5 minute flight. Explosive events are small, transient, and bright regions on the solar disk with significant emission in the wings of transition region and chromospheric spectral lines. These events occur in all regions of the sun, from coronal holes to active regions and have been associated with magnetic reconnection. Slit spectrographs cannot completely capture an explosive event, and must find a compromise between temporal and spatial resolution (among other things). MOSES and ESIS address this compromise by using an array of wide FOV slitless spectrographs to capture a spectrally-resolved image of an explosive event. The large FOV of ESIS and MOSES also allows us to capture multiple events in a single exposure, and will allow us to better characterize the structure, frequency, and evolving morphology and kinematics of these small solar transients. Observations from IRIS and EIS will allow for better constraints on the plasma within explosive events, will provide chromospheric and coronal spectrographic context, and will also provide a validation dataset for the MOSES and ESIS data analysis pipeline. Imagers such as XRT and SOT will provide important spatial and magnetic context for these events.
