Probing the Physics of the Solar Atmosphere with the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE). II. Flares and Eruptions

Mark C. M. Cheung*, Juan Martínez-Sykora, Paola Testa, Bart De Pontieu, Georgios Chintzoglou, Matthias Rempel, Vanessa Polito, Graham S. Kerr, Katharine K. Reeves, Lyndsay Fletcher, Meng Jin, Daniel Nóbrega-Siverio, Sanja Danilovic, Patrick Antolin, Joel Allred, Viggo Hansteen, Ignacio Ugarte-Urra, Edward DeLuca, Dana Longcope, Shinsuke TakasaoMarc L. DeRosa, Paul Boerner, Sarah Jaeggli, Nariaki V. Nitta, Adrian Daw, Mats Carlsson, Leon Golub, the MUSE team

*Corresponding author for this work

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31 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Current state-of-the-art spectrographs cannot resolve the fundamental spatial (subarcseconds) and temporal (less than a few tens of seconds) scales of the coronal dynamics of solar flares and eruptive phenomena. The highest-resolution coronal data to date are based on imaging, which is blind to many of the processes that drive coronal energetics and dynamics. As shown by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph for the low solar atmosphere, we need high-resolution spectroscopic measurements with simultaneous imaging to understand the dominant processes. In this paper: (1) we introduce the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE), a spaceborne observatory to fill this observational gap by providing high-cadence (<20 s), subarcsecond-resolution spectroscopic rasters over an active region size of the solar transition region and corona; (2) using advanced numerical models, we demonstrate the unique diagnostic capabilities of MUSE for exploring solar coronal dynamics and for constraining and discriminating models of solar flares and eruptions; (3) we discuss the key contributions MUSE would make in addressing the science objectives of the Next Generation Solar Physics Mission (NGSPM), and how MUSE, the high-throughput Extreme Ultraviolet Solar Telescope, and the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope (and other ground-based observatories) can operate as a distributed implementation of the NGSPM. This is a companion paper to De Pontieu et al., which focuses on investigating coronal heating with MUSE.
Original languageEnglish
Article number53
Number of pages32
JournalThe Astrophysical Journal
Volume926
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2022

Keywords

  • Active solar corona
  • Solar coronal mass ejections
  • Solar coronal waves
  • Solar flares;
  • Extreme ultraviolet astronomy
  • Solar extreme ultraviolet emission
  • Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Radiative magnetohydrodynamics
  • Astrophysical fluid dynamics
  • Solar instruments
  • Astronomical instrumentation

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