The Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System Detector and Image Processing (SWAP) telescope is a compact EUV imager on board the
PROBA-2 mission that will observe the Sun in extreme ultraviolet (EUV). SWAP will provide images of the
solar corona
A corona ( coronas or coronae) is the outermost layer of a star's atmosphere. It consists of plasma.
The Sun's corona lies above the chromosphere and extends millions of kilometres into outer space. It is most easily seen during a total solar e ...
at a temperature of roughly 1 million degrees. This instrument was built upon the heritage of the
Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
The Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) is an instrument on the SOHO spacecraft used to obtain high-resolution images of the solar corona in the ultraviolet range. The EIT instrument is sensitive to light of four different wavelengths: 1 ...
(EIT) which monitors the solar corona since 1996.
SWAP will continue the systematic
coronal mass ejection
A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted ...
(CME) watch program at an improved image cadence (typically 1 image every minute). With this higher cadence, SWAP will monitor events in the low solar corona that might be relevant for space weather. These events include EIT waves (global waves propagating across the solar disc from the CME eruption site), EUV dimming regions (transient coronal holes from where the CME has lifted off) and filament instabilities (a specific type of flickering during the rise of a filament). SWAP will also take advantage of offpointings provided by the agility featured of
PROBA-2 platform to follows coronal mass ejections.
SWAP was built at the
Liège Space Center and will be operated from the PROBA-2 Science Center at the
Royal Observatory of Belgium
The Royal Observatory of Belgium (french: link=no, Observatoire Royal de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België), has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels (Belgium) since 1890. It was first established in Saint-Josse ...
.
SWAP has been used to study coronal brightspot dynamics.
See also
*
SWAP (New Horizons) (solar wind detector on Pluto flyby probe)
References
External links
SWAP data
{{Satellite and spacecraft instruments, state=collapsed
Embedded systems
Spacecraft instruments