Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results

Juhani Huovelin; R. Vainio; Emilia Kilpua; Arto Lehtolainen; Seppo Korpela; Eero Esko; Karri Muinonen; Emma Bunce; Adrian Martindale; Manuel Grande; H. Andersson; Seppo Nenonen; J. Lehti; W. Schmidt; Maria Genzer; T. Vihavainen; J. Saari; J. Peltonen; E. Valtonen; M. Talvioja; P. Portin; S. Narendranath; R. Jarvinen; Tatsuaki Okada; Anna Milillo; M. Laurenza; E. Heino; P. Oleynik

doi:10.1007/s11214-020-00717-3

Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results

Standard

Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results. / Huovelin, Juhani; Vainio, R.; Kilpua, Emilia et al.

In: Space Science Reviews, Vol. 216, No. 5, 94, 01.08.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Harvard

Huovelin, J, Vainio, R, Kilpua, E, Lehtolainen, A, Korpela, S, Esko, E, Muinonen, K, Bunce, E, Martindale, A, Grande, M, Andersson, H, Nenonen, S, Lehti, J, Schmidt, W, Genzer, M, Vihavainen, T, Saari, J, Peltonen, J, Valtonen, E, Talvioja, M, Portin, P, Narendranath, S, Jarvinen, R, Okada, T, Milillo, A, Laurenza, M, Heino, E & Oleynik, P 2020, 'Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results', Space Science Reviews, vol. 216, no. 5, 94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00717-3

APA

Huovelin, J., Vainio, R., Kilpua, E., Lehtolainen, A., Korpela, S., Esko, E., Muinonen, K., Bunce, E., Martindale, A., Grande, M., Andersson, H., Nenonen, S., Lehti, J., Schmidt, W., Genzer, M., Vihavainen, T., Saari, J., Peltonen, J., Valtonen, E., ... Oleynik, P. (2020). Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results. Space Science Reviews, 216(5), [94]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00717-3

Vancouver

Huovelin J, Vainio R, Kilpua E, Lehtolainen A, Korpela S, Esko E et al. Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results. Space Science Reviews. 2020 Aug 1;216(5):94. Epub 2020 Jul 14. doi: 10.1007/s11214-020-00717-3

Author

Huovelin, Juhani ; Vainio, R. ; Kilpua, Emilia et al. / Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results. In: Space Science Reviews. 2020 ; Vol. 216, No. 5.

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@article{114a1559410a424b8077cd89aaf936aa,

title = "Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results",

abstract = "The Solar Intensity X-ray and particle Spectrometer (SIXS) on the BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (“Bepi”) measures the direct solar X-rays, energetic protons, and electrons that bombard, and interact with, the Hermean surface. The interactions result in X-ray fluorescence and scattering, and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), i.e. “glow” of the surface in X-rays. Simultaneous monitoring of the incident and emitted radiation enables derivation of the abundances of some chemical elements and scattering properties of the outermost surface layer of the planet, and it may reveal other sources of X-ray emission, due to, for example, weak aurora-like phenomena in Mercury{\textquoteright}s exosphere. Mapping of the Hermean X-ray emission is the main task of the MIXS instrument onboard BepiColombo. SIXS data will also be used for investigations of the solar X-ray corona and solar energetic particles (SEP), both in the cruise phase and the passes of the Earth, Venus and Mercury before the arrival at Mercury{\textquoteright}s orbit, and the final science phase at Mercury{\textquoteright}s orbit. These observations provide the first-ever opportunity for in-situ measurements of the propagation of SEPs, their interactions with the interplanetary magnetic field, and space weather phenomena in multiple locations throughout the inner solar system far away from the Earth, and more extensively at Mercury{\textquoteright}s orbit.In this paper we describe the scientific objectives, design and calibrations, operational principles, and scientific performance of the final SIXS instrument launched to the mission to planet Mercury onboard BepiColombo. We also provide the first analysis results of science observations with SIXS, that were made during the Near-Earth Commissioning Phase and early cruise phase operations in 2018–19, including the background X-ray sky observations and “first light” observations of the Sun with the SIXS X-ray detection system (SIXS-X), and in-situ energetic electron and proton observations with the SIXS Particle detection system (SIXS-P).",

keywords = "BepiColombo, Electrons, Instrumentation, Planet Mercury, Protons, Solar X-rays, Solar corona",

author = "Juhani Huovelin and R. Vainio and Emilia Kilpua and Arto Lehtolainen and Seppo Korpela and Eero Esko and Karri Muinonen and Emma Bunce and Adrian Martindale and Manuel Grande and H. Andersson and Seppo Nenonen and J. Lehti and W. Schmidt and Maria Genzer and T. Vihavainen and J. Saari and J. Peltonen and E. Valtonen and M. Talvioja and P. Portin and S. Narendranath and R. Jarvinen and Tatsuaki Okada and Anna Milillo and M. Laurenza and E. Heino and P. Oleynik",

note = "Funding Information: Open access funding provided by University of Helsinki including Helsinki University Central Hospital. We acknowledge the European Space Agency (ESA) for providing us the opportunity to provide contribution to the payload of BepiColombo mission. We wish to express our sincere gratefulness to Business Finland (former Tekes) for the full financial support of the main Finnish contributions in the Mercury Planetary Orbiter, which are the SIXS instrument, the common digital processing unit (DPU) for SIXS and MIXS, and the onboard software (SW) for SIXS and MIXS. Research by KM partially funded by the Academy of Finland project 325805. RV and EK acknowledge funding of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space (Academy of Finland grant numbers 312357, 312390). EK acknowledges the SolMAG project (ERC-COG 724391) funded by the European Research Council (ERC) in the framework of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and the Academy of Finland project SMASH (310445). Last but not least, we would also like to thank the whole BepiColombo team at ESA, and especially the project (now mission) scientist, Johannes Benkhoff, the European instrument teams, and the Japanese MMO/Mio team, for the great spirit, innovativeness, collaborative mindset, and enthusiasm that helped our team to reach the best performance, and has made the whole journey enjoyable to all of us. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s).",

year = "2020",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s11214-020-00717-3",

language = "English",

volume = "216",

journal = "Space Science Reviews",

issn = "0038-6308",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "5",

}

RIS (suitable for import to EndNote) - Download

TY - JOUR

T1 - Solar intensity X-ray and particle spectrometer SIXS: instrument design and first results

AU - Huovelin, Juhani

AU - Vainio, R.

AU - Kilpua, Emilia

AU - Lehtolainen, Arto

AU - Korpela, Seppo

AU - Esko, Eero

AU - Muinonen, Karri

AU - Bunce, Emma

AU - Martindale, Adrian

AU - Grande, Manuel

AU - Andersson, H.

AU - Nenonen, Seppo

AU - Lehti, J.

AU - Schmidt, W.

AU - Genzer, Maria

AU - Vihavainen, T.

AU - Saari, J.

AU - Peltonen, J.

AU - Valtonen, E.

AU - Talvioja, M.

AU - Portin, P.

AU - Narendranath, S.

AU - Jarvinen, R.

AU - Okada, Tatsuaki

AU - Milillo, Anna

AU - Laurenza, M.

AU - Heino, E.

AU - Oleynik, P.

N1 - Funding Information: Open access funding provided by University of Helsinki including Helsinki University Central Hospital. We acknowledge the European Space Agency (ESA) for providing us the opportunity to provide contribution to the payload of BepiColombo mission. We wish to express our sincere gratefulness to Business Finland (former Tekes) for the full financial support of the main Finnish contributions in the Mercury Planetary Orbiter, which are the SIXS instrument, the common digital processing unit (DPU) for SIXS and MIXS, and the onboard software (SW) for SIXS and MIXS. Research by KM partially funded by the Academy of Finland project 325805. RV and EK acknowledge funding of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space (Academy of Finland grant numbers 312357, 312390). EK acknowledges the SolMAG project (ERC-COG 724391) funded by the European Research Council (ERC) in the framework of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and the Academy of Finland project SMASH (310445). Last but not least, we would also like to thank the whole BepiColombo team at ESA, and especially the project (now mission) scientist, Johannes Benkhoff, the European instrument teams, and the Japanese MMO/Mio team, for the great spirit, innovativeness, collaborative mindset, and enthusiasm that helped our team to reach the best performance, and has made the whole journey enjoyable to all of us. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s).

PY - 2020/8/1

Y1 - 2020/8/1

N2 - The Solar Intensity X-ray and particle Spectrometer (SIXS) on the BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (“Bepi”) measures the direct solar X-rays, energetic protons, and electrons that bombard, and interact with, the Hermean surface. The interactions result in X-ray fluorescence and scattering, and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), i.e. “glow” of the surface in X-rays. Simultaneous monitoring of the incident and emitted radiation enables derivation of the abundances of some chemical elements and scattering properties of the outermost surface layer of the planet, and it may reveal other sources of X-ray emission, due to, for example, weak aurora-like phenomena in Mercury’s exosphere. Mapping of the Hermean X-ray emission is the main task of the MIXS instrument onboard BepiColombo. SIXS data will also be used for investigations of the solar X-ray corona and solar energetic particles (SEP), both in the cruise phase and the passes of the Earth, Venus and Mercury before the arrival at Mercury’s orbit, and the final science phase at Mercury’s orbit. These observations provide the first-ever opportunity for in-situ measurements of the propagation of SEPs, their interactions with the interplanetary magnetic field, and space weather phenomena in multiple locations throughout the inner solar system far away from the Earth, and more extensively at Mercury’s orbit.In this paper we describe the scientific objectives, design and calibrations, operational principles, and scientific performance of the final SIXS instrument launched to the mission to planet Mercury onboard BepiColombo. We also provide the first analysis results of science observations with SIXS, that were made during the Near-Earth Commissioning Phase and early cruise phase operations in 2018–19, including the background X-ray sky observations and “first light” observations of the Sun with the SIXS X-ray detection system (SIXS-X), and in-situ energetic electron and proton observations with the SIXS Particle detection system (SIXS-P).

AB - The Solar Intensity X-ray and particle Spectrometer (SIXS) on the BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (“Bepi”) measures the direct solar X-rays, energetic protons, and electrons that bombard, and interact with, the Hermean surface. The interactions result in X-ray fluorescence and scattering, and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), i.e. “glow” of the surface in X-rays. Simultaneous monitoring of the incident and emitted radiation enables derivation of the abundances of some chemical elements and scattering properties of the outermost surface layer of the planet, and it may reveal other sources of X-ray emission, due to, for example, weak aurora-like phenomena in Mercury’s exosphere. Mapping of the Hermean X-ray emission is the main task of the MIXS instrument onboard BepiColombo. SIXS data will also be used for investigations of the solar X-ray corona and solar energetic particles (SEP), both in the cruise phase and the passes of the Earth, Venus and Mercury before the arrival at Mercury’s orbit, and the final science phase at Mercury’s orbit. These observations provide the first-ever opportunity for in-situ measurements of the propagation of SEPs, their interactions with the interplanetary magnetic field, and space weather phenomena in multiple locations throughout the inner solar system far away from the Earth, and more extensively at Mercury’s orbit.In this paper we describe the scientific objectives, design and calibrations, operational principles, and scientific performance of the final SIXS instrument launched to the mission to planet Mercury onboard BepiColombo. We also provide the first analysis results of science observations with SIXS, that were made during the Near-Earth Commissioning Phase and early cruise phase operations in 2018–19, including the background X-ray sky observations and “first light” observations of the Sun with the SIXS X-ray detection system (SIXS-X), and in-situ energetic electron and proton observations with the SIXS Particle detection system (SIXS-P).

KW - BepiColombo

KW - Electrons

KW - Instrumentation

KW - Planet Mercury

KW - Protons

KW - Solar X-rays

KW - Solar corona

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087855753&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11214-020-00717-3

DO - 10.1007/s11214-020-00717-3

M3 - Review article

VL - 216