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arxiv: 2509.00253 · v1 · pith:CPOUJF5Dnew · submitted 2025-08-29 · 🌌 astro-ph.SR · astro-ph.IM

The ASPIICS solar coronagraph aboard the Proba-3 formation flying mission. Scientific objectives and instrument design

A.N. Zhukov , C. Thizy , D. Galano , B. Bourgoignie , L. Dolla , C. Jean , B. Nicula , S. Shestov
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C. Galy R. Rougeot J. Versluys J. Zender P. Lamy S. Fineschi S. Gunar B. Inhester M. Mierla P. Rudawy K. Tsinganos S. Koutchmy R. Howard H. Peter S. Vives L. Abbo C. Aime K. Aleksiejuk J. Baran U. Bak-Steslicka A. Bemporad D. Berghmans D. Besliu-Ionescu S. Buckley O. Buiu G. Capobianco I. Cimoch E. DHuys M. Dziezyc K. Fleury-Frenette S.E. Gibson S. Giordano L. Golub K. Grochowski P. Heinzel A. Hermans J. Jacobs S. Jejcic N. Kranitis F. Landini D. Loreggia J. Magdalenic D. Maia C. Marque R. Melich M. Morawski M. Mosdorf V. Noce P. Orleanski A. Paschalis R. Peresty L. Rodriguez D.B. Seaton L. Short J.-F. Simar M. Steslicki R. Sorensen G. Terrasa N. Van Vooren F. Verstringe L. Zangrilli
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classification 🌌 astro-ph.SR astro-ph.IM
keywords solarspacecraftaspiicscoronacoronagraphproba-3aboardaround
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We describe the scientific objectives and instrument design of the ASPIICS coronagraph launched aboard the Proba-3 mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) on 5 December 2024. Proba-3 consists of two spacecraft in a highly elliptical orbit around the Earth. One spacecraft carries the telescope, and the external occulter is mounted on the second spacecraft. The two spacecraft fly in a precise formation during 6 hours out of 19.63 hour orbit, together forming a giant solar coronagraph called ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun). Very long distance between the external occulter and the telescope (around 144 m) represents an increase of two orders of magnitude compared to classical externally occulted solar coronagraphs. This allows us to observe the inner corona in eclipse-like conditions, i.e. close to the solar limb (down to 1.099 Rs) and with very low straylight. ASPIICS will provide a new perspective on the inner solar corona that will help solve several outstanding problems in solar physics, such as the origin of the slow solar wind and physical mechanism of coronal mass ejections.

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Cited by 2 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Diffraction in the ASPIICS coronagraph: observations and modeling

    astro-ph.IM 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 4.0

    New ASPIICS observations confirm the qualitative properties of a diffraction model for coronagraph straylight and achieve 30-50% quantitative agreement after fine-tuning, with diffracted light two orders of magnitude ...

  2. UK White Paper on Space-based total solar eclipse observations: structure and dynamics of the solar atmosphere

    astro-ph.IM 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 3.0

    The document advocates for a space mission concept (MESOM) to enable extended, high-quality observations of the solar corona and atmosphere during eclipses.