SH036-0004
First Measurements of Heavy Ions from the Solar Orbiter Heavy Ion Sensor

Monday, 14 December 2020
Poster
Susan T Lepri1, Jim M Raines2, Ryan M. Dewey2, Antoinette Galvin3, Lynn M Kistler4 and Stefano A Livi5, (1)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (2)University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (3)University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Durham, NH, United States, (4)Univ New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (5)SwRI, San Antonio, TX, United States
Abstract:
Solar Orbiter launched in February 2020 on an orbit that will take it into the inner heliosphere and eventually out of ecliptic plane to both sample the solar wind in-situ and remotely observe the Sun. The Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) is a suite of instruments dedicated to taking in-situ measurements of solar wind electrons, protons, alpha particles, and heavy ions. The SWA heavy ion measurements are obtained by the Heavy Ion Sensor (HIS). We present the measurements of heavy ion composition from SWA-HIS, the first such measurements in the inner heliosphere. We discuss how these measurements will help us understand the acceleration and release of the solar wind, the sources of the solar wind, and the structure of the solar wind in the inner heliosphere. Measurements of oxygen and iron, as well as pickup ions, will be presented and interpreted in the context of the surrounding solar wind.
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