SH011-0005
A Journey of Exploration to the Polar Regions of a Star: Probing the Solar Poles and the Heliosphere from High Helio-Latitude

Tuesday, 8 December 2020
Poster
Wolfgang Finsterle, PMOD WRC Physical Meteorological Observatory Davos and World Radiation Center, Davos Dorf, Switzerland, Louise Harra, PMOD/WRC and ETH-Zürich, Davos, Switzerland, Vincenzo Andretta, INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Napoli, Italy, Thierry Appourchaux, CNRS, Paris Cedex 16, France, Frederic Baudin, CNRS, Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay Cedex, France, Luis Bellot Rubio, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA-CSIC), Granada, Spain, Arron Birch, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany, Patrick Boumier, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS, Paris–Saclay, France, Robert H Cameron, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany, Mats Carlsson, University of Oslo, Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, Oslo, Norway, Thierry Corbard, Observatoire de la côte d'Azur, Nice, France, Jackie A Davies, United Kingdom Research and Innovation - Science & Technology Facilities Council - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, RAL Space, Didcot, United Kingdom, Andrew Neil Fazakerley, Mullard Space Science Lab., Dorking, United Kingdom, Silvano Fineschi, INAF - Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Astrophysical Observatory of Torino, Torino, Italy, Laurent C. Gizon, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany; Georg-August-Universität, Institut für Astrophysik, Göttingen, Germany, Richard Anthony Harrison, UKRI STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, RAL Space, Harwell Campus, Didcot, United Kingdom, Don Hassler, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, John W Leibacher, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS, Paris-Saclay, France; Max-Planck Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany, Paulett Creyke Liewer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, Malcolm Macdonald, University of Strathclyde, UK, Strathclyde, United Kingdom, Milan Maksimovic, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, Meudon, France, Neil Murphy, JPL, Pasadena, CA, United States, Giampiero Naletto, University of Padova, Department of Information Engineering, Padova, Italy, Giuseppina Nigro, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria (Italy), Rende, Cosenza, Italy, Christopher John Owen, University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Dorking, United Kingdom, Valentin Martinez-Pillet, Raleigh, NC, United States, Pierre Leon Rochus, Centre Spatial de Liege, Liege, Belgium, M Romoli, University of Florence, Florence, Italy, Takashi Sekii, NAOJ, Tokyo, Japan, Daniele Spadaro, INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Italy, Catania, Italy and Astrid Veronig, University of Graz, Institute of Physics, Graz, Austria
Abstract:
A mission to view the solar poles from high helio-latitudes (above 60°) will build on the experience of Solar Orbiter as well as a long heritage of successful solar missions and instrumentation (e.g. SOHO, STEREO, Hinode, SDO), but will focus for the first time on the solar poles, enabling scientific investigations that cannot be done by any other mission. One of the major mysteries of the Sun is the solar cycle. The activity cycle of the Sun drives the structure and behaviour of the heliosphere and is, of course, the driver of space weather. In addition, solar activity and variability provides fluctuating input into the Earth climate models, and these same physical processes are applicable to stellar systems hosting exoplanets. One of the main obstructions to understanding the solar cycle, and hence all solar activity, is our current lack of understanding of the polar regions. We describe a mission concept that aims to address this fundamental issue.
In parallel, we recognise that viewing the Sun from above the polar regions enables further scientific advantages, beyond those related to the solar cycle, such as unique and powerful studies of coronal mass ejection processes, from a global perspective, and studies of coronal structure and activity in polar regions. Not only will these provide important scientific advances for fundamental stellar physics research, they will feed into our understanding of impacts on the Earth and other planets' space environment.
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