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Two Years of the STEREO Heliospheric Imagers |
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| Authors: | Richard A Harrison Jackie A Davies Alexis P Rouillard Christopher J Davis Christopher J Eyles Danielle Bewsher Steve R Crothers Russell A Howard Neil R Sheeley Angelos Vourlidas David F Webb Daniel S Brown Gareth D Dorrian |
| Institution: | 1. Space Science and Technology Department, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, UK 2. Space Environment Physics Group, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK 3. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK 4. Laboratorio de Procesado de Imagenes, Universidad de Valencia, 46071, Valencia, Spain 5. Institute of Mathematics and Physics, Aberystwyth University, Penglais, Aberystwyth, SY23 3BZ, UK 6. Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA 7. Institute for Scientific Research, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA 8. Air Force Research Laboratory, Hanscom, AFB, MA, USA |
| Abstract: | Imaging of the heliosphere is a burgeoning area of research. As a result, it is awash with new results, using novel applications, and is demonstrating great potential for future research in a wide range of topical areas. The STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) Heliospheric Imager (HI) instruments are at the heart of this new development, building on the pioneering observations of the SMEI (Solar Mass Ejection Imager) instrument aboard the Coriolis spacecraft. Other earlier heliospheric imaging systems have included ground-based interplanetary scintillation (IPS) facilities and the photometers on the Helios spacecraft. With the HI instruments, we now have routine wide-angle imaging of the inner heliosphere, from vantage points outside the Sun-Earth line. HI has been used to investigate the development of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) as they pass through the heliosphere to 1 AU and beyond. Synoptic mapping has also allowed us to see graphic illustrations of the nature of mass outflow as a function of distance from the Sun – in particular, stressing the complexity of the near-Sun solar wind. The instruments have also been used to image co-rotating interaction regions (CIRs), to study the interaction of comets with the solar wind and CMEs, and to witness the impact of CMEs and CIRs on planets. The very nature of this area of research – which brings together aspects of solar physics, space-environment physics, and solar-terrestrial physics – means that the research papers are spread among a wide range of journals from different disciplines. Thus, in this special issue, it is timely and appropriate to provide a review of the results of the first two years of the HI investigations. |
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