The Micro Solar Flare Apparutus (MiSolFA) Instrument Concept

TL;DR

MiSolFA is a compact X-ray spectrometer designed for small satellites to provide stereoscopic imaging of solar flares, enabling 3D analysis and overcoming previous limitations in solar flare observation.

Contribution

This paper introduces the design principles and performance evaluation of the innovative MiSolFA instrument, a compact X-ray imaging spectrometer for small satellites.

Findings

MiSolFA can image X-ray sources between 10-100 keV with 10 arcsec resolution.

The engineering model demonstrates the feasibility of a miniaturized X-ray spectrometer.

Design compromises enable a tenfold reduction in volume compared to previous instruments.

Abstract

The Micro Solar-Flare Apparatus (MiSolFA) is a compact X-ray imaging spectrometer designed for a small 6U micro-satellite. As a relatively inexpensive yet capable Earth-orbiting instrument, MiSolFA is designed to image the high-energy regions of solar flares from a different perspective than that of Solar Orbiter's STIX, operating from a highly elliptical heliocentric orbit. Two instruments working together in this way would provide a 3-dimensional view of X-ray emitting regions and can bypass the dynamic range limitation preventing simultaneous coronal and chromospheric imaging. Stereoscopic X-ray observations would also contain valuable information about the anisotropy of the flare-accelerated electron distribution. To perform these types of observations, MiSolFA must be capable of imaging sources with energies between 10 and 100 keV, with 10 arcsec angular resolution. MiSolFA's Imager will be the most compact X-ray imaging spectrometer in space. Scaling down the volume by a factor of ten from previous instrument designs requires special considerations. Here we present the design principles of the MiSolFA X-ray optics, discuss the necessary compromises, and evaluate the performance of the Engineering Model.