High Resolution Coronal Imager
The High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) is a sub-orbital telescope designed to take high-resolution images of the Sun's corona. It was launched on July 11, 2012 aboard a Black Brant sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.[1] The images taken were the highest resolution photos ever of the Sun's corona.[2]
Telescope description
The telescope weighs 464 pounds, and is 10 feet long.[2] The mirrors are approximately 9.5 inches across. Its optics were designed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama with assistance from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and L-3Com/Tinsley Laboratories of Richmond, California. Dr. Jonathan Cirtain, from MSFL said: "These mirrors were to be the finest pieces of glass ever fabricated for solar astrophysics."[3]
Imaging system
The imaging system was designed by Apogee Imaging Systems with a resolution of 0.1 arcsec/pixel (14 times higher resolution than the Solar Dynamics Observatory). It was based on a customized version of the E2V CCD203 from Lockheed Martin, which is a very large 4 channel back illuminated 4,000 x 4,000 pixel charge-coupled device (CCD).[1]
Mission
The flight lasted for 10 minutes, reached an altitude of 283 kilometres (176 mi) and the telescope captured 165 images of a large active region. It imaged the Sun in ultraviolet light at 19.3 nm wavelength.[4] The total cost of the mission was $5 million.[5]
Findings
The experiment revealed never-before-seen "magnetic braids" of plasma roiling in the Sun's outer layers.[2] It was the first time scientists were able to directly observe magnetic reconnection in braids, which may be the primary sources of heating in the active solar corona.[4][6]
References
- 1 2 "NASA HIC". Apogee Imaging Systems. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- 1 2 3 "NASA Telescope Observes How Sun Stores and Releases Energy". NASA. January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- ↑ "'Hi-C' Mission Sees Energy in the Sun's Corona". NASA. January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- 1 2 "High-Resolution Coronal Imager Photographs the Sun in UV Light at 19.3nm Wavelength". AZonano.com. January 24, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ↑ Clara Moskowitz (January 23, 2013). "How NASA Revealed Sun's Hottest Secret in 5-Minute Spaceflight". Space.com. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- ↑ Cirtain, J. W.; Golub, L.; Winebarger, A. R.; De Pontieu, B.; Kobayashi, K.; Moore, R. L.; Walsh, R. W.; Korreck, K. E.; Weber, M.; McCauley, P.; Title, A.; Kuzin, S.; Deforest, C. E. (2013). "Energy release in the solar corona from spatially resolved magnetic braids". Nature 493 (7433): 501–503. Bibcode:2013Natur.493..501C. doi:10.1038/nature11772. PMID 23344359.
External links
- The Sun Revealed:Photos of the Million-degree Solar Corona, Space.com
- HI-C Sounding Rocket Mission Has Finest Mirrors Ever Made, NASA