Aerospace (Nov 2023)

The Large Imaging Spectrometer for Solar Accelerated Nuclei (LISSAN): A Next-Generation Solar γ-ray Spectroscopic Imaging Instrument Concept

  • Daniel F. Ryan,
  • Sophie Musset,
  • Hamish A. S. Reid,
  • Säm Krucker,
  • Andrea F. Battaglia,
  • Eric Bréelle,
  • Claude Chapron,
  • Hannah Collier,
  • Joel Dahlin,
  • Carsten Denker,
  • Ewan Dickson,
  • Peter T. Gallagher,
  • Iain Hannah,
  • Natasha L. S. Jeffrey,
  • Jana Kašparová,
  • Eduard Kontar,
  • Philippe Laurent,
  • Shane A. Maloney,
  • Paolo Massa,
  • Anna Maria Massone,
  • Tomasz Mrozek,
  • Damien Pailot,
  • Melody Pallu,
  • Melissa Pesce-Rollins,
  • Michele Piana,
  • Illya Plotnikov,
  • Alexis Rouillard,
  • Albert Y. Shih,
  • David Smith,
  • Marek Steslicki,
  • Muriel Z. Stiefel,
  • Alexander Warmuth,
  • Meetu Verma,
  • Astrid Veronig,
  • Nicole Vilmer,
  • Christian Vocks,
  • Anna Volpara

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10120985
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 12
p. 985

Abstract

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Models of particle acceleration in solar eruptive events suggest that roughly equal energy may go into accelerating electrons and ions. However, while previous solar X-ray spectroscopic imagers have transformed our understanding of electron acceleration, only one resolved image of γ-ray emission from solar accelerated ions has ever been produced. This paper outlines a new satellite instrument concept—the large imaging spectrometer for solar accelerated nuclei (LISSAN)—with the capability not only to observe hundreds of events over its lifetime, but also to capture multiple images per event, thereby imaging the dynamics of solar accelerated ions for the first time. LISSAN provides spectroscopic imaging at photon energies of 40 keV–100 MeV on timescales of ≲10 s with greater sensitivity and imaging capability than its predecessors. This is achieved by deploying high-resolution scintillator detectors and indirect Fourier imaging techniques. LISSAN is suitable for inclusion in a multi-instrument platform such as an ESA M-class mission or as a smaller standalone mission. Without the observations that LISSAN can provide, our understanding of solar particle acceleration, and hence the space weather events with which it is often associated, cannot be complete.

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