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The Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE) mission: An overview

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Abstract

The Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE), dubbed “Xihe”—Goddess of the Sun, was launched on October 14, 2021 as the first solar space mission of China National Space Administration (CNSA). The CHASE mission is designed to test a newly developed satellite platform and to acquire the spectroscopic observations in the Hα waveband. The Hα Imaging Spectrograph (HIS) is the scientific payload of the CHASE satellite. It consists of two observational modes: raster scanning mode and continuum imaging mode. The raster scanning mode obtains full-Sun or region-of-interest spectral images from 6559.7 to 6565.9 Å; and from 6567.8 to 6570.6 Å with 0.024 Å pixel spectral resolution and 1 min temporal resolution. The continuum imaging mode obtains photospheric images in continuum around 6689 Å with the full width at half maximum of 13.4 Å. The CHASE mission will advance our understanding of the dynamics of solar activity in the photosphere and chromosphere. In this paper, we present an overview of the CHASE mission including the scientific objectives, HIS instrument overview, data calibration flow, and first results of on-orbit observations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Chuan Li, Cheng Fang, Zhen Li, MingDe Ding, PengFei Chen, Ye Qiu, YiWei Ni, WenBo Wang, ShiHao Rao & HaiTang Li

  2. Key Laboratory for Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Chuan Li, Cheng Fang, Zhen Li, MingDe Ding, PengFei Chen, Ye Qiu, YiWei Ni, WenBo Wang, ShiHao Rao & HaiTang Li

  3. Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering, Shanghai, 201109, China

    Wei You, Yuan Yuan, MinJie An, ChangYa Chen, Qiang Gu, QingLong Huang, MingXing Liu, Xi Lu & Wei Wang

  4. Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130033, China

    HongJiang Tao, XianSheng Li, Zhe Chen, Qiang Liu, Gui Mei, Liang Yang, ChengShan Han, HongWei Xin & ChangZheng Chen

  5. Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Shanghai, 201109, China

    Wei Zhang, WeiQiang Cheng & JianXin Chen

  6. China Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application, Beijing, 100094, China

    Jun Lin

  7. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Beijing, 100048, China

    YiXian Jiang

  8. Key and Special Project Center of China National Space Administration (CNSA), Beijing, 100101, China

    LingJie Meng & Jian Zhao

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  1. Chuan Li
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  2. Cheng Fang
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  35. Jian Zhao
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Chuan Li or Cheng Fang.

Additional information

The CHASE mission is supported by China National Space Administration (CNSA). The efforts to develop a solar space mission such as CHASE require a huge amount of skillful and cross-field collaborations. We would like to thank the team from Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering who built the satellite, the team from Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics who designed the scientific payload, and the team from China Center for Resources Satellite Date and Application who provided the service of data transmission. Nanjing University is responsible for the science and application system. We would also like to thank many individuals who gave valuable comments and suggestions in the development of the CHASE mission: Zhi Xu (Yunnan Observatory, China), Weiqun Gan (Purple Mountain Observatory, China), Jean-Claude Vial (Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, France), Weijun Mao and Junping Zhang (Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, China).

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Li, C., Fang, C., Li, Z. et al. The Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE) mission: An overview. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 65, 289602 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-022-1893-3

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