AGS-FIRP Track 3: Solar Eclipse Observations with the Airborne Coronal Emission Surveyor (ACES)

AGS-FIRP 第 3 轨：使用机载日冕发射测量仪 (ACES) 进行日食观测

• 批准号: 2235072
• 负责人: Jenna Samra
• 金额: $ 22万
• 依托单位: Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-15 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2235072&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: AGS; FIRP; Track; Solar; Eclipse

This project is a Track-3 deployment to commission a new imaging Fourier transform spectrometer with an observation of the solar corona from the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V (GV) during the 2024 total solar eclipse across North America. The Airborne Coronal Emission Surveyor (ACES), currently under construction on NSF award AGS-MRI #2117582, will survey the 1–4 μm wavelength region to look for lines that may be viable candidates for measuring the coronal magnetic field and plasma diagnostics at large solar radii. ACES is a new focal plane instrument enabled by the Airborne Stabilized Platform for InfraRed Experiments (ASPIRE, AGS-MRI #1919809), commissioned in 2021 with observations from the GV. It builds on the success of ASPIRE and the Airborne InfraRed Spectrometer (AIR-Spec, AGS- MRI #1531549 & AGS #1822314) to expand the infrared window for thermal and magnetic studies of the Sun’s outer atmosphere. The eclipse campaign and data reduction effort are modeled on the very successful AIR-Spec missions to observe the 2017 and 2019 total solar eclipses. Following deployment, the instrument will be delivered to NCAR as a resource for the solar physics community. Two REU students and one graduate student will be trained. The team is a diverse group of early to mid-career scientists and engineers and is led by a female PI.During its six-minute commissioning observation from the GV, ACES will observe from an altitude of 14 km with a spectral resolution of 0.5 cm−1 and a spatial plate scale of 20" across a field of view of 2000"×100". The instrument will search for more than twenty forbidden lines of ionized magnesium, aluminum, silicon, sulfur, argon, calcium, iron, and nickel, at least half of which have never before been observed. The novel research goals include: identifying the brightest spectral lines; documenting their widths and higher order properties of the line profiles; measuring contributions from collisional versus radiative excitation; documenting the variations of all of the above as a function of the features observed and projected radius. The science questions probe the diagnostic potential of emission lines in the 1–4 μm range, the variation of plasma density and temperature with radial distance, the ratio of radiative to collisional excitation as a function of radius, and the variation of elemental abundances across the corona. The solar feed for ACES will be provided by ASPIRE, which was constructed with NSF award AGS-MRI #1919809 and commissioned in December 2021. ASPIRE enables the large aperture, high altitude, and image stability (6 arcsec RMS in a 1-s exposure) necessary to measure the infrared corona with high sensitivity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目是一个轨道3部署，以委托一个新的成像傅里叶变换光谱仪，在2024年北美日全食期间从NSF/NCAR湾流V（GV）观测日冕。目前正在NSF奖AGS-MRI #2117582上建造的机载日冕发射测量仪（ACES）将测量1-4 μm波长区域，以寻找可能用于测量日冕磁场和大太阳半径等离子体诊断的可行候选线。ACES是一种新的焦平面仪器，由机载稳定实验平台（ASPIRE，AGS-MRI #1919809）启用，于2021年投入使用，并从GV进行观测。它建立在ASPIRE和机载红外光谱仪（AIR-Spec，AGS- MRI #1531549 AGS #1822314）的成功基础上，以扩大太阳外层大气热和磁研究的红外窗口。日食活动和数据简化工作是以非常成功的AIR-Spec任务为模型的，以观察2017年和2019年的日全食。部署后，该仪器将交付给NCAR，作为太阳物理学界的资源。将培训两名REU学生和一名研究生。该团队是一个由早期到中期职业科学家和工程师组成的多元化团队，由一位女性PI领导。在GV的6分钟调试观测期间，ACES将在14 km的高度进行观测，光谱分辨率为0.5 cm−1，空间板尺度为20”，视场为2000”×100”。这台仪器将探测镁、铝、硅、硫、氩、钙、铁和镍离子的20多条禁谱线，其中至少有一半以前从未被观测过。新的研究目标包括：识别最亮的光谱线;记录它们的宽度和更高阶的谱线轮廓;测量碰撞与辐射激发的贡献;记录所有上述变化作为观察到的特征和投影半径的函数。科学问题探讨了1-4微米范围内发射线的诊断潜力，等离子体密度和温度随径向距离的变化，辐射与碰撞激发的比率随半径的变化，以及整个日冕中元素丰度的变化。ACES的太阳能供电将由ASPIRE提供，该系统是根据NSF奖项AGS-MRI #1919809建造的，并于2021年12月投入使用。ASPIRE能够实现高灵敏度测量红外日冕所需的大孔径、高海拔和图像稳定性（1秒曝光中的6弧秒RMS）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。