Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (Sep 2018)

Solar Physics From Unconventional Viewpoints

  • Sarah E. Gibson,
  • Angelos Vourlidas,
  • Donald M. Hassler,
  • Laurel A. Rachmeler,
  • Michael J. Thompson,
  • Jeffrey Newmark,
  • Marco Velli,
  • Alan Title,
  • Scott W. McIntosh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2018.00032
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5

Abstract

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We explore new opportunities for solar physics that could be realized by future missions providing sustained observations from vantage points away from the Sun-Earth line. These include observations from the far side of the Sun, at high latitudes including over the solar poles, or from near-quadrature angles relative to the Earth (e.g., the Sun-Earth L4 and L5 Lagrangian points). Such observations fill known holes in our scientific understanding of the three-dimensional, time-evolving Sun and heliosphere, and have the potential to open new frontiers through discoveries enabled by novel viewpoints.

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