The Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI)

R. A. Howard (1) , A. Vourlidas (2) , R. C. Colaninno (1) , C. M. Korendyke (1) , S. P. Plunkett (1) , M. T. Carter (1) , D. Wang (1) , N. Rich (1) , S. Lynch (1) , A. Thurn (1) , D. G. Socker (1) , A. F. Thernisien (1) , D. Chua (1) , M. G. Linton (1) , S. Koss (1) , S. Tun-Beltran (1) , H. Dennison (1) , G. Stenborg (1) , D. R. Mcmullin (3) , T. Hunt (3) , R. Baugh (3) , G. Clifford (4) , D. Keller (5) , J. R. Janesick (5) , J. Tower (5) , M. Grygon (5) , R. Farkas (5) , R. Hagood (6) , K. Eisenhauer (6) , A. Uhl (6) , S. Yerushalmi (6) , L. Smith (6) , P. C. C Liewer (7) , M. C. Velli (8) , J. Linker (9) , V. Bothmer (10) , P. Rochus (11) , J.-P. Halain (12) , Philippe Lamy (13) , F. Auchère (14) , R. A. Harrison (15) , A. Rouillard (16) , S. Patsourakos (17) , O. C. St. Cyr (18) , H. Gilbert (18) , H. Maldonado (18) , C. Mariano (18) , J. Cerullo (19)

1 NRL - Naval Research Laboratory
2 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]
3 SSRC - Space Systems Research Corporation
4 Silver Engineering, Inc.
5 SRI International
6 SGT, Inc. - Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc.
7 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
8 UCLA - University of California [Los Angeles]
9 Predictive Sciences Inc.
10 Georg-August-University = Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
11 CSL - Centre Spatial de Liège
12 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre
13 PLANETO - LATMOS
14 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale
15 RAL - STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
16 IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie
17 University of Ioannina
18 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
19 ASRC Federal Space and Defense

Aims. We present the design and pre-launch performance of the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) which is an instrument prepared for inclusion in the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission, currently scheduled for launch in 2020. Methods. The goal of this paper is to provide details of the SoloHI instrument concept, design, and pre-flight performance to give the potential user of the data a better understanding of how the observations are collected and the sources that contribute to the signal. Results. The paper discusses the science objectives, including the SoloHI-specific aspects, before presenting the design concepts, which include the optics, mechanical, thermal, electrical, and ground processing. Finally, a list of planned data products is also presented. Conclusions. The performance measurements of the various instrument parameters meet or exceed the requirements derived from the mission science objectives. SoloHI is poised to take its place as a vital contributor to the science success of the Solar Orbiter mission.

Keywords: Sun; corona; zodiacal dust; space vehicles; telescopes

Domains: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics [astro-ph.SR]

R. A. Howard, A. Vourlidas, R. C. Colaninno, C. M. Korendyke, S. P. Plunkett, et al.. The Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI). Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2020, 642, A13 (23p.). ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201935202⟩. ⟨insu-03019623⟩