my country's comprehensive solar exploration special satellite "Kuafu-1" - Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) was launched on October 9 at , the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Why did the road to sun exploration of "Kuafu No. 1" begin? So how to advance? Xinhua News Agency reporter interviewed Gan Weiqun, chief scientist of satellite and researcher at the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Kuafu No. 1" diagram. Photo provided by the satellite development team
What are the unique skills of "Kuafu-1"?
Ganweiqun introduced that "Kuafu No. 1" is equipped with three payloads, which have both combination advantages and their own characteristics and skills. The all-day vector magnetograph equipped on
"Kuafu-1" can observe the sun's full-day vector magnetograph data, and its observation sensitivity and temporal resolution rank among the top among similar detectors in the world; the Lehmann Alpha solar telescope corresponds to the "new window" of solar observation, which may bring back brand new solar physical information; while the solar hard X-ray imager can image X-rays from 30 to 200keV energy segments, and its Fourier component is the highest among similar devices of spatial modulation.
"Kuafu-1" was launched in the early morning of October 9, 2022. Then the satellite and each stand-alone aircraft were started in sequence as planned, and then entered 4 to 6 months of in-orbit testing. During the testing period, various performance, functions, observation modes, etc. of the satellite platform and the three payloads must be tested, and in-orbit data calibration must be carried out. After the test is completed, the satellite will be officially delivered to the scientific application system management. At that time, the processed observation data and data analysis software will be opened to the public in real time, giving solar physicists around the world the opportunity to use the scientific data of "Kuafu-1" to carry out research.
"I hope that the combined observation of the three instruments can show its characteristics and skills and bring us new surprises." Gan Weiqun said.
What can "Kuafu No. 1" do?
The scientific goal of "Kuafu No. 1" is summarized as "one magnet and two storms". "One magnet" refers to solar magnetic field , and "two bursts" refer to the two most violent explosion phenomena on the sun, namely solar flare and coronal matter ejection. Understanding the connection between these three will not only help to understand how solar activity forms and evolves, but will also provide an important physical basis for predicting space weather.
In addition to doing scientific research, "Kuafu No. 1" also has the potential to become a space weather "forecaster" and "researcher" serving humans.
Broadly speaking, the flare non-thermal radiation data provided by the hard X-ray imager and the solar magnetic field information observed by the all-day vector magnetograph can provide basic data for medium- and long-term spatial weather forecast research.
"More directly speaking, the Lyman Alpha solar telescope mounted on the satellite can 'see' the scale, direction and speed of coronal mass ejection, and issue early warnings for disaster space weather events about 40 hours in advance." Gan Weiqun said.
"Kuafu No. 1" model photo. Photo provided by the development team
and " Xihe " work together to explore the sun
In October 2021, my country has launched the first domestic solar exploration science and technology experimental satellite "Xihe". As both Sun Exploration satellites, what is the difference between "Kuafu-1" and "Xihe"?
Gan Weiqun explained that "Xihe" can be called the "pathfinder" of my country's Sun Explorer Project. After the successful launch, in addition to conducting ultra-high directional accuracy and ultra-high stability technical tests on the satellite platform, the main load "Hα imaging spectrometer" above has achieved the expected observation effect after a period of in-orbit debugging. Acquisition of full-day surface Hα spectral scanning imaging with high time resolution, observing and studying chromospheric dynamics, is the main feature of "Xihe".
and "Kuafu No. 1" is called the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory. It is my country's first comprehensive solar exploration special satellite, with three payloads and a total of 5 telescopes. Its main feature is to realize the combined observation of the sun's "one magnet and two storms" and multi-band and space expansion.
Two satellites work in orbit at the same time, which is very conducive to increasing the scientific output of satellites.
Why choose to embark on the journey of sun exploration at this time?
Gan is the group introduction, and solar activity is a cycle of 11 years. The 25th solar activity cycle begins in the second half of 2020 and will continue until around 2031. The peak in this cycle is expected to occur from the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025, when the sun's outbreaks were also the most frequent.
"Kuafu-1" was launched in 2022. It can record the process of solar activity from less to more, gradually becoming active until it reaches its peak, which is conducive to capturing more violent outbreaks.
Although human observations of the universe have now extended to 13 billion light years away, the sun is still the only star that we can study in detail so far. "Humans have a very shallow understanding of a series of activities on the sun. Space sun exploration is an important step in studying and understanding the sun, and it also has important practical significance for human beings' own survival." Gan Weiqun said.
Source: Xinhuanet
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