Earth and Planetary Physics (Jan 2024)
The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) on the SMILE Mission
- S. Sembay,
- A. L. Alme,
- D. Agnolon,
- T. Arnold,
- A. Beardmore,
- A. Belén Balado Margeli,
- C. Bicknell,
- C. Bouldin,
- G. Branduardi-Raymont,
- T. Crawford,
- J. P. Breuer,
- T. Buggey,
- G. Butcher,
- R. Canchal,
- J. A. Carter,
- A. Cheney,
- Y. Collado-Vega,
- H. Connor,
- T. Crawford,
- N. Eaton,
- C. Feldman,
- C. Forsyth,
- T. Frantzen,
- G. Galgóczi,
- J. Garcia,
- G. Y. Genov,
- C. Gordillo,
- H-P. Gröbelbauer,
- M. Guedel,
- Y. Guo,
- M. Hailey,
- D. Hall,
- R. Hampson,
- J. Hasiba,
- O. Hetherington,
- A. Holland,
- S-Y. Hsieh,
- M. W. J. Hubbard,
- H. Jeszenszky,
- M. Jones,
- T. Kennedy,
- K. Koch-Mehrin,
- S. Kögl,
- S. Krucker,
- K. D. Kuntz,
- C. Lakin1,
- G. Laky,
- O. Lylund,
- A. Martindale,
- J. Miguel Mas Hesse,
- R. Nakamura,
- K. Oksavik,
- N. Østgaard,
- H. Ottacher,
- R. Ottensamer,
- C. Pagani,
- S. Parsons,
- P. Patel,
- J. Pearson,
- G. Peikert,
- F. S. Porter,
- T. Pouliantis,
- B. H. Qureshi,
- W. Raab,
- G. Randall,
- A. M. Read,
- N. M. M. Roque,
- M. E. Rostad,
- C. Runciman,
- S. Sachdev,
- A. Samsonov,
- M. Soman,
- D. Sibeck,
- S. Smit,
- J. Søndergaard,
- R. Speight,
- S. Stavland,
- M. Steller,
- TianRan Sun,
- J. Thornhill,
- W. Thomas,
- K. Ullaland,
- B. Walsh,
- D. Walton,
- C. Wang,
- S. Yang
Affiliations
- S. Sembay
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- A. L. Alme
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- D. Agnolon
- ESTEC, European Space Agency, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands
- T. Arnold
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- A. Beardmore
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- A. Belén Balado Margeli
- National Institute of Aerospace Technology, Madrid, Spain
- C. Bicknell
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- C. Bouldin
- Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- G. Branduardi-Raymont
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- T. Crawford
- Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- J. P. Breuer
- Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Masaryk University, 601 77 Brno, Czech Republic
- T. Buggey
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- G. Butcher
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- R. Canchal
- National Institute of Aerospace Technology, Madrid, Spain
- J. A. Carter
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- A. Cheney
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- Y. Collado-Vega
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre, MD 20771, USA
- H. Connor
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre, MD 20771, USA
- T. Crawford
- Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- N. Eaton
- Space Acoustics GmbH, CH-8157 Dielsdorf, Switzerland
- C. Feldman
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- C. Forsyth
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- T. Frantzen
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- G. Galgóczi
- Institute of Physics, E¨otvo¨s Lor´and University, 1053 Budapest, Hungary
- J. Garcia
- National Institute of Aerospace Technology, Madrid, Spain
- G. Y. Genov
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- C. Gordillo
- National Institute of Aerospace Technology, Madrid, Spain
- H-P. Gröbelbauer
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, CH-5210 Windisch, Switzerland
- M. Guedel
- University of Vienna, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
- Y. Guo
- Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100045, China
- M. Hailey
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- D. Hall
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- R. Hampson
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- J. Hasiba
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- O. Hetherington
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- A. Holland
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- S-Y. Hsieh
- John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, MD 20723, USA
- M. W. J. Hubbard
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- H. Jeszenszky
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-8042 Graz, Austria
- M. Jones
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- T. Kennedy
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- K. Koch-Mehrin
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- S. Kögl
- Koegl Space GmbH, CH-8157 Dielsdorf, Switzerland
- S. Krucker
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, CH-5210 Windisch, Switzerland
- K. D. Kuntz
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre, MD 20771, USA
- C. Lakin1
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- G. Laky
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-8042 Graz, Austria
- O. Lylund
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- A. Martindale
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- J. Miguel Mas Hesse
- Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB), CSIC-INTA, Madrid, Spain
- R. Nakamura
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-8042 Graz, Austria
- K. Oksavik
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- N. Østgaard
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- H. Ottacher
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-8042 Graz, Austria
- R. Ottensamer
- University of Vienna, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
- C. Pagani
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- S. Parsons
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- P. Patel
- Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- J. Pearson
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- G. Peikert
- Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8400 Winterhur, Switzerland
- F. S. Porter
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre, MD 20771, USA
- T. Pouliantis
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- B. H. Qureshi
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- W. Raab
- ESTEC, European Space Agency, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands
- G. Randall
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- A. M. Read
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- N. M. M. Roque
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- M. E. Rostad
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- C. Runciman
- ESTEC, European Space Agency, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands
- S. Sachdev
- Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- A. Samsonov
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- M. Soman
- Centre for Electronic Imaging, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6 AA, UK
- D. Sibeck
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre, MD 20771, USA
- S. Smit
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- J. Søndergaard
- STM Engineering, N-5165 Laksevag, Norway
- R. Speight
- Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- S. Stavland
- STM Engineering, N-5165 Laksevag, Norway
- M. Steller
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-8042 Graz, Austria
- TianRan Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Centre, Beijing 100190, China
- J. Thornhill
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- W. Thomas
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- K. Ullaland
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- B. Walsh
- Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- D. Walton
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK
- C. Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Centre, Beijing 100190, China
- S. Yang
- Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, Univ. of Bergen, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.26464/epp2023067
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 8,
no. 1
pp. 5 – 14
Abstract
The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) is part of the scientific payload of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission. SMILE is a joint science mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and is due for launch in 2025. SXI is a compact X-ray telescope with a wide field-of-view (FOV) capable of encompassing large portions of Earth’s magnetosphere from the vantage point of the SMILE orbit. SXI is sensitive to the soft X-rays produced by the Solar Wind Charge eXchange (SWCX) process produced when heavy ions of solar wind origin interact with neutral particles in Earth’s exosphere. SWCX provides a mechanism for boundary detection within the magnetosphere, such as the position of Earth’s magnetopause, because the solar wind heavy ions have a very low density in regions of closed magnetic field lines. The sensitivity of the SXI is such that it can potentially track movements of the magnetopause on timescales of a few minutes and the orbit of SMILE will enable such movements to be tracked for segments lasting many hours. SXI is led by the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom (UK) with collaborating organisations on hardware, software and science support within the UK, Europe, China and the United States.
Keywords
