The Solar Orbiter SPICE instrument -- An extreme UV imaging spectrometer
Abstract
The Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument is a high-resolution imaging spectrometer operating at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths. In this paper, we present the concept, design, and pre-launch performance of this facility instrument on the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission. The goal of this paper is to give prospective users a better understanding of the possible types of observations, the data acquisition, and the sources that contribute to the instrument's signal. The paper discusses the science objectives, with a focus on the SPICE-specific aspects, before presenting the instrument's design, including optical, mechanical, thermal, and electronics aspects. This is followed by a characterisation and calibration of the instrument's performance. The paper concludes with descriptions of the operations concept and data processing. The performance measurements of the various instrument parameters meet the requirements derived from the mission's science objectives. The SPICE instrument is ready to perform measurements that will provide vital contributions to the scientific success of the Solar Orbiter mission.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1909.01183,
title = {The Solar Orbiter SPICE instrument -- An extreme UV imaging spectrometer},
author = {The SPICE Consortium and : and M. Anderson and T. Appourchaux and F. Auchère and R. Aznar Cuadrado and J. Barbay and F. Baudin and S. Beardsley and K. Bocchialini and B. Borgo and D. Bruzzi and E. Buchlin and G. Burton and V. Blüchel and M. Caldwell and S. Caminade and M. Carlsson and W. Curdt and J. Davenne and J. Davila and C. E. DeForest and G. Del Zanna and D. Drummond and J. Dubau and C. Dumesnil and G. Dunn and P. Eccleston and A. Fludra and T. Fredvik and A. Gabriel and A. Giunta and A. Gottwald and D. Griffin and T. Grundy and S. Guest and M. Gyo and M. Haberreiter and V. Hansteen and R. Harrison and D. M. Hassler and S. V. H. Haugan and C. Howe and M. Janvier and R. Klein and S. Koller and T. A. Kucera and D. Kouliche and E. Marsch and A. Marshall and G. Marshall and S. A. Matthews and C. McQuirk and S. Meining and C. Mercier and N. Morris and T. Morse and G. Munro and S. Parenti and C. Pastor-Santos and H. Peter and D. Pfiffner and P. Phelan and A. Philippon and A. Richards and K. Rogers and C. Sawyer and P. Schlatter and W. Schmutz and U. Schühle and B. Shaughnessy and S. Sidher and S. K. Solanki and R. Speight and M. Spescha and N. Szwec and C. Tamiatto and L. Teriaca and W. Thompson and I. Tosh and S. Tustain and J. -C. Vial and B. Walls and N. Waltham and R. Wimmer-Schweingruber and S. Woodward and P. Young and A. De Groof and A. Pacros and D. Williams and D. Müller},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1909.01183},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
A&A, accepted 19 August 2019; 26 pages, 25 figures