Solar Physics from Unconventional Viewpoints

TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential scientific advancements in solar physics achievable through future missions that observe the Sun from unconventional vantage points, such as the far side, poles, or quadrature positions.

Contribution

It highlights the scientific opportunities and new frontiers enabled by observations from vantage points outside the traditional Sun-Earth line.

Findings

Unconventional viewpoints can fill gaps in 3D solar and heliosphere understanding.

Observations from L4 and L5 points can provide unique insights into solar dynamics.

Future missions could significantly advance solar physics through novel perspectives.

Abstract

We explore new opportunities for solar physics that could be realized by future missions providing sustained observations from vantage points away from the Sun-Earth line. These include observations from the far side of the Sun, at high latitudes including over the solar poles, or from near-quadrature angles relative to the Earth (e.g., the Sun-Earth L4 and L5 Lagrangian points). Such observations fill known holes in our scientific understanding of the three-dimensional, time-evolving Sun and heliosphere, and have the potential to open new frontiers through discoveries enabled by novel viewpoints.