Probing the Physics of the Solar Atmosphere with the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE): II. Flares and Eruptions

TL;DR

The paper introduces MUSE, a high-resolution space observatory designed to capture the rapid, small-scale dynamics of solar flares and eruptions, filling a critical observational gap in solar physics.

Contribution

It presents the design, capabilities, and scientific potential of MUSE for studying solar coronal dynamics and flare phenomena, and discusses its integration with other solar observatories.

Findings

Demonstrates MUSE's diagnostic capabilities through advanced numerical models.

Highlights MUSE's role in addressing key solar physics science objectives.

Shows how MUSE complements other solar observatories in a distributed observational network.

Abstract

Current state-of-the-art spectrographs cannot resolve the fundamental spatial (sub-arcseconds) and temporal scales (less than a few tens of seconds) of the coronal dynamics of solar flares and eruptive phenomena. The highest resolution coronal data to date are based on imaging, which is blind to many of the processes that drive coronal energetics and dynamics. As shown by IRIS for the low solar atmosphere, we need high-resolution spectroscopic measurements with simultaneous imaging to understand the dominant processes. In this paper: (1) we introduce the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE), a spaceborne observatory to fill this observational gap by providing high-cadence (<20 s), sub-arcsecond resolution spectroscopic rasters over an active region size of the solar transition region and corona; (2) using advanced numerical models, we demonstrate the unique diagnostic capabilities of MUSE for exploring solar coronal dynamics, and for constraining and discriminating models of solar flares and eruptions; (3) we discuss the key contributions MUSE would make in addressing the science objectives of the Next Generation Solar Physics Mission (NGSPM), and how MUSE, the high-throughput EUV Solar Telescope (EUVST) and the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope (and other ground-based observatories) can operate as a distributed implementation of the NGSPM. This is a companion paper to De Pontieu et al. (2021; arXiv:2106.15584), which focuses on investigating coronal heating with MUSE.