Published March 2009 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

POLAR investigation of the Sun -- POLARIS

  • 1. ROR icon Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
  • 2. ROR icon Jet Propulsion Lab
  • 3. ROR icon Rice University
  • 4. ROR icon Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
  • 5. ROR icon Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
  • 6. ROR icon National Space Science and Technology Center
  • 7. ROR icon Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
  • 8. ROR icon Southwest Research Institute
  • 9. ROR icon Stanford University
  • 10. ROR icon Association of Universities For Research In Astronomy
  • 11. ROR icon Paris Observatory
  • 12. ROR icon Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
  • 13. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 14. ROR icon United States Naval Research Laboratory
  • 15. ROR icon University of St Andrews
  • 16. ROR icon Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania
  • 17. ROR icon University of California, Los Angeles
  • 18. ROR icon Kiel University
  • 19. ROR icon University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Abstract

The POLAR Investigation of the Sun (POLARIS) mission uses a combination of a gravity assist and solar sail propulsion to place a spacecraft in a 0.48 AU circular orbit around the Sun with an inclination of 75° with respect to solar equator. This challenging orbit is made possible by the challenging development of solar sail propulsion. This first extended view of the high-latitude regions of the Sun will enable crucial observations not possible from the ecliptic viewpoint or from Solar Orbiter. While Solar Orbiter would give the first glimpse of the high latitude magnetic field and flows to probe the solar dynamo, it does not have sufficient viewing of the polar regions to achieve POLARIS's primary objective: determining the relation between the magnetism and dynamics of the Sun's polar regions and the solar cycle.

Additional Information

© The Authors 2009. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Received: 16 November 2007; Accepted: 3 June 2008; Published online: 12 July 2008.

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14240
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CaltechAUTHORS:20090515-153035829

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Created
2009-08-24
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Updated
2021-11-08
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