We present the first joint spectral and imaging analysis of hard X-ray (HXR) emission from 3 microflares observed by the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ARray (NuSTAR) and Solar Orbiter/Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX). We studied 5 joint spectra from GOES A7, B1 and B6 class microflares from active region AR12765 on 2020 June 6 and 7. As these events are very bright for NuSTAR, resulting in extremely low (<1%) livetime, we introduce a pile-up correction method. All five joint spectra were fitted with an isothermal model finding temperatures in the 9-11 MK range. Furthermore, three joint spectra required an additional non-thermal thick-target model finding non-thermal powers of $10^{25}$-$10^{26}$ erg s$^{-1}$. All the fit parameters were within the ranges expected for HXR microflares. The fit results give a relative scaling of STIX and NuSTAR mostly between 6-28% (one outlier at 52%) suggesting each instrument are well calibrated. In addition to spectral analysis, we performed joint HXR imaging of the June 6 and one of the June 7 microflares. In NuSTAR's field of view (FOV), we observed two separate non-thermal sources connected by an elongated thermal source during the June 6 microflares. In STIX's FOV (44 degrees W with respect to NuSTAR), we imaged thermal emission from the hot flare loops which when reprojected to an Earth viewpoint matches the thermal sources seen with NuSTAR and in the hotter EUV channels with the Solar Dynamic Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly.
The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is the HXR instrument onboard Solar Orbiter designed to observe solar flares over a broad range of flare sizes, between 4-150 keV. We report the first STIX observations of microflares recorded during the instrument commissioning phase in order to investigate the STIX performance at its detection limit. This first result paper focuses on the temporal and spectral evolution of STIX microflares occuring in the AR12765 in June 2020, and compares the STIX measurements with GOES/XRS, SDO/AIA, and Hinode/XRT. For the observed microflares of the GOE…
During its commissioning phase in 2020, the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) on board the Solar Orbiter spacecraft observed 69 microflares. The two most significant events from this set (of GOES class B2 and B6) were observed on-disk from the spacecraft as well as from Earth and analysed in terms of the spatial, temporal, and spectral characteristics. We complement the observations from the STIX instrument with EUV imagery from SDO/AIA and GOES soft X-ray data by adding imaging and plasma diagnostics over different temperature ranges for a detailed microflare case study that is…
The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is a hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy device to be mounted in the Solar Orbiter cluster with the aim of providing images and spectra of solar flaring regions at different photon energies in the range from a few keV to around 150 keV. The imaging modality of this telescope is based on the Moire pattern concept and utilizes 30 sub-collimators, each one containing a pair of co-axial grids. This paper applies Fourier analysis to provide the first rigorous description of the data formation process in STIX. Specifically, we show that, under first h…
Solar Orbiter observations of solar energetic electron events associated with hard microflares
ETH-Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL), Faculty of Informatics, Università della Svizzera Italiana（瑞士意大利大学信息学院阿尔多和塞莱达科太阳研究所）；European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)（欧洲空间局欧洲空间天文中心）；Universidad de Alcalá（阿卡拉大学）；PMOD/WRC（帕尔默气象观测站/世界辐射中心）
The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) will look at solar flares across the hard X-ray window provided by the Solar Orbiter cluster. Similarly to the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), STIX is a visibility-based imaging instrument, which will ask for Fourier-based image reconstruction methods. However, in this paper we show that, as for RHESSI, also for STIX count-based imaging is possible. Specifically, here we introduce and illustrate a mathematical model that mimics the STIX data formation process as a projection from the incoming photon flux into a…
Context. The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is one of 6 remote sensing instruments on-board Solar Orbiter. It provides hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy of solar flares by sampling the Fourier transform of the incoming flux. Aims. To show that the visibility amplitude and phase calibration of 24 out of 30 STIX sub-collimators is well advanced and that a set of imaging methods is able to provide the first hard X-ray images of the flaring Sun from Solar Orbiter. Methods. We applied four visibility-based image reconstruction methods and a count-based one to calibrated STIX observa…
Responses of the X-ray spectrometer/imager STIX onboard Solar Orbiter
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW)（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；The Physical Meteorological Observatory and World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC)（物理气象观测站与世界辐射中心）；IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay and Université Paris Diderot, AIM, Sorbonne Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS（IRFU、CEA、巴黎萨克雷大学和巴黎第七大学、AIM、索邦巴黎西大、CEA、CNRS）
During the next solar maximum, two upcoming space-borne X-ray missions, STIX on board Solar Orbiter and MiSolFA, will perform stereoscopic X-ray observations of solar flares at two different locations: STIX at 0.28 AU (at perihelion) and up to inclinations of $\sim25^{\circ}$, and MiSolFA in a low-Earth orbit. The combined observations from these cross-calibrated detectors will allow us to infer the electron anisotropy of individual flares confidently for the first time. We simulated both instrumental and physical effects for STIX and MiSolFA including thermal shielding, background and X-ray C…
Multi-point study of the energy release and transport in the 28 March 2022, M4-flare using STIX, EUI, and AIA during the first Solar Orbiter nominal mission perihelion
One of the main science questions of the Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe missions deals with understanding how electrons in the lower solar corona are accelerated and how they subsequently access interplanetary space. We aim to investigate the electron acceleration and energy release sites as well as the manner in which accelerated electrons access the interplanetary space in the case of the SOL2021-02-18T18:05 event, a GOES A8 class microflare associated with a coronal jet. This study takes advantage of three different vantage points, Solar Orbiter, STEREO-A, and Earth, with observations…
Aima. To determine to what extent the problem of forward fitting visibilities measured by the Spectrometer/Telescope Imaging X-rays (STIX) on-board Solar Orbiter is more challenging with respect to the same problem in the case of previous hard X-ray solar imaging missions; to identify an effective optimization scheme for parametric imaging for STIX. Methods. This paper introduces a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm for forward fitting STIX visibilities and compares its effectiveness with respect to the standard simplex-based optimization algorithm used so far for the analysis of visi…
Aims. To provide a schematic mathematical description of the imaging concept of the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) on board Solar Orbiter. The derived model is the fundamental starting point for both the interpretation of STIX data and the description of the data calibration process. Methods. We describe the STIX indirect imaging technique which is based on spatial modulation of the X-ray photon flux by means of tungsten grids. We show that each of 30 STIX imaging sub-collimators measures a complex Fourier component of the flaring X-ray source corresponding to a specific angu…
Solar flares are the most powerful events in the solar system and the brightest sources of X-rays, often associated with emission of particles reaching the Earth and causing geomagnetic storms, giving problems to communication, airplanes and even black-outs. X-rays emitted by accelerated electrons are the most direct probe of solar flare phenomena. The Micro Solar-Flare Apparatus (MiSolFA) is a proposed compact X-ray detector which will address the two biggest issues in solar flare modeling. Dynamic range limitations prevent simultaneous spectroscopy with a single instrument of all X-ray emitt…
Aims: To provide the first demonstration of STIX Fourier-transform X-ray imaging using semi-calibrated (amplitude-only) visibility data acquired during the Solar Orbiter's cruise phase. Methods: We use a parametric imaging approach by which STIX visibility amplitudes are fitted by means of two non-linear optimization methods: a fast meta-heuristic technique inspired by social behavior, and a Bayesian Monte Carlo sampling method, which, although slower, provides better quantification of uncertainties. Results: When applied to a set of solar flare visibility amplitudes recorded by STIX on Novemb…
Triple coronal hard X-ray source observed by STIX during a failed filament eruption
Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院空间研究中心）；Astronomical Institute, University of Wrocław（弗罗茨瓦夫大学天文研究所）；ETH-Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；PMOD/WRC（帕默尔太阳物理观测站/世界辐射中心）
First results from PADRE/MeDDEA: X-rays from a flare and its CME
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）；Université Paris Cité（巴黎西岱大学）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；American University（美利坚大学）；Southwest Research Institute（西南研究所）；Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California（加州大学空间科学实验室）
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院粒子物理与天体物理研究所）；School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Glasgow（格拉斯哥大学物理与天文学学院）；Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California（加州大学空间科学实验室）
The goal of this paper is to study the smallest brightening events observed in the EUV quiet Sun. We use commissioning data taken by the EUI instrument onboard the recently launched Solar Orbiter mission. On 2020 May 30, EUI was situated at 0.556AU from the Sun. Its HRIEUV telescope 17.4nm passband reached an exceptionally high two-pixel spatial resolution of 400km. The size and duration of small-scale structures is determined in the HRIEUV data, while their height is estimated from triangulation with the simultaneous SDO/AIA data. This is the first stereoscopy of small scale brightenings at h…
Elemental Composition Evolution during the 2024 September 30 Solar Eruption: A Comparison of Hot and Cool Plasma Components with Solar Orbiter/SPICE, Hinode/EIS, and Chandrayaan-2/XSM
Southwest Research Institute（西南研究所）；Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校安与H.J.斯梅德航空航天工程科学系）；Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校大气与空间物理实验室）；University of Alabama in Huntsville（阿拉巴马大学亨茨维尔分校）；NASA Marshall Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局马歇尔太空飞行中心）
Fine-scale flare structures and their energetic implications from short-exposure extreme-ultraviolet imaging
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies（都柏林高等研究院）；University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（瑞士西北应用科学艺术大学）；University of Toronto（多伦多大学）；Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics（加拿大理论天体物理研究所）；Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California（加州大学空间科学实验室）；University College London（伦敦大学学院）；Royal Observatory of Belgium（比利时皇家天文台）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）
Stereoscopic Observations of Solar X-ray Sources Explained by a Data-Constrained Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation
New Jersey Institute of Technology（新泽西理工学院）；University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California（加州大学空间科学实验室）；Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University（名古屋大学地球·宇宙环境研究所）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）
CoSEE-Cat: A Comprehensive Solar Energetic Electron event Catalogue obtained from combined in situ and remote-sensing observations from Solar Orbiter -- Catalogue description and first statistical results
The Solar X-ray Monitor (abbreviated as XSM) on board India's Chandrayaan-2 mission is designed to carry out broadband spectroscopy of the Sun from lunar orbit. It observes the Sun as a star and measures the spectrum every second in the soft X-ray band of 1 - 15 keV with an energy resolution better than 180 eV at 5.9 keV. The primary objective of the XSM is to provide the incident solar spectrum for the X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy experiment on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which aims to generate elemental abundance maps of the lunar surface. However, observations with the XSM can independent…
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Università di Genova（热那亚大学）；Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California（加州大学空间科学实验室）
Three-dimensional mapping of coronal magnetic field and plasma parameters in a solar flare
Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS)（太阳物理研究所）；Center For Solar-Terrestrial Research, New Jersey Institute of Technology（新泽西理工学院太阳-地球关系研究中心）；University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory（伦敦大学学院穆拉德太空科学实验室）
Near-continuous tracking of solar active region NOAA 13664 over three solar rotations
ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Istituto Ricerche Solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL)（阿尔多和塞莱达科太阳研究所）；Università della Svizzera Italiana（瑞士意大利语大学）；PMOD/WRC（世界辐射中心）；University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；University College London（伦敦大学学院）；Mullard Space Science Laboratory（穆拉德空间科学实验室）；University of Vienna（维也纳大学）；Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research（马克斯·普朗克太阳系研究所）
Count-based spectral component imaging (CCI) of solar flares in X-rays
Università di Genova（热那亚大学）；University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland（瑞士西北应用科学艺术大学）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino（意大利国家天体物理研究所都灵天文台）
The Micro Solar-Flare Apparatus (MiSolFA) is a compact X-ray imaging spectrometer designed for a small 6U micro-satellite. As a relatively inexpensive yet capable Earth-orbiting instrument, MiSolFA is designed to image the high-energy regions of solar flares from a different perspective than that of Solar Orbiter's STIX, operating from a highly elliptical heliocentric orbit. Two instruments working together in this way would provide a 3-dimensional view of X-ray emitting regions and can bypass the dynamic range limitation preventing simultaneous coronal and chromospheric imaging. Stereoscopic …
Maximum Entropy is an image reconstruction method conceived to image a sparsely occupied field of view and therefore particularly appropriate to achieve super-resolution effects. Although widely used in image deconvolution, this method has been formulated in radio astronomy for the analysis of observations in the spatial frequency domain, and an Interactive Data Language (IDL) code has been implemented for image reconstruction from solar X-ray Fourier data. However, this code relies on a non-convex formulation of the constrained optimization problem addressed by the Maximum Entropy approach an…
Context. We present an analysis of a GOES M1.8 flare with excellent observational coverage in UV, EUV, and X-ray, including observations from the instruments IRIS, SDO with AIA, Hinode/EIS, Hinode/XRT, and Solar Orbiter with the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX). Hard X-ray emission is often observed at the footpoints of flare loops and is occasionally observed in the corona. In this flare, four nonthermal hard X-ray sources are seen. Aim. Our aim is to understand why we can observe four individual nonthermal sources in this flare and how we can characterize the physical propert…
