Abstract
The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is one of the ten instruments on board the scientific payload of ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission. STIX provides hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy in the 4–150 keV energy range, observing hard X-ray bremsstrahlung emission from the Sun. These observations provide diagnostics of the hottest thermal plasmas (> 10 MK) and information on the non-thermal energetic electrons accelerated above 10 keV during solar flares. STIX has a spectral resolution of 1 keV and employs the use of indirect bi-grid Fourier imaging to spatially locate hard X-ray emission. Given that STIX provides critical information about accelerated electrons at the Sun through hard X-ray diagnostics, it is a powerful contribution to the Solar Orbiter suite and has a significant role to explore the dynamics of solar inputs to the heliosphere. This chapter describes the STIX instrument, its design, objectives, and the first observations and outlines the new perspectives STIX provides over the mission lifetime of Solar Orbiter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Image describing how the STIX grids produces a moiré pattern by Marina Battaglia, Gordon Hurford, Säm Krucker. (2019). https://stix.i4ds.nethttps://stix.i4ds.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/fourier-1.jpg
A. Battaglia, H. Collier, S. Krucker, A demonstration of STIX hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy capabilities for an X-class flare (SOL2021-10-28), (2022). https://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/~tohban/wiki/index.php/A_demonstration_of_STIX_hard_X-ray_imaging_spectroscopy_capabilities_for_an_X-class_flare_(SOL2021-10-28)
A.F. Battaglia, J. Saqri, P. Massa, E. Perracchione, E.C.M. Dickson, H. **ao, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 656, A4 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140524
W.-Q. Gan, C. Zhu, Y.-Y. Deng, H. Li, Y. Su, H.-Y. Zhang, et al., Res. Astron. Astrophys. 19, 156 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/19/11/156
O. Gevin, O. Limousin, F. Lugiez, A. Michalowska, A. Meuris, D. Baudin, et al., J. Astron. Instrum. 10, 2150009-163 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1142/S2251171721500094
S. Giordano, N. Pinamonti, M. Piana, A.M. Massone, e-prints, ar**v:1412.6825 (2014)
T. Kosugi, K. Makishima, T. Murakami, T. Sakao, T. Dotani, M. Inda, et al., Sol. Phys. 136, 17 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00151693
S. Krucker, G.J. Hurford, Y. Su, W.-Q. Gan, Res. Astron. Astrophys. 19, 167 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/19/11/167
S. Krucker, G.J. Hurford, O. Grimm, S. Kögl, H.-P. Gröbelbauer, L. Etesi, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 642, A15 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201937362
R.P. Lin, B.R. Dennis, G.J. Hurford, D.M. Smith, A. Zehnder, P.R. Harvey, et al., Sol. Phys. 210, 3 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022428818870
D. Maier, O. Limousin, G. Daniel, Eur. Phys. J. Web Conf. 225, 01003 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202022501003
J. Martinez Oliveros, S. Christe, P. Saint-Hilaire, S. Krucker, A. Caspi, E. Peretz, et al., American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts (2021)
P. Massa, E. Perracchione, S. Garbarino, A.F. Battaglia, F. Benvenuto, M. Piana, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 656, A25 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140946
P. Massa, A.F. Battaglia, A. Volpara, H. Collier, G.J. Hurford, M. Kuhar, et al., e-prints, ar**v:2202.09334, solphys, 297, 93 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-022-02029-x
C. Meegan, G. Lichti, P.N. Bhat, E. Bissaldi, M.S. Briggs, V. Connaughton, et al., Astrophys. J. 702, 791 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/702/1/791
A. Meuris, G. Hurford, M. Bednarzik, O. Limousin, O. Gevin, I. Le Mer, et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 695, 288 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2011.11.016
D. Müller, O.C. Cyr St., I. Zouganelis, H.R. Gilbert, R. Marsden, T. Nieves-Chinchilla, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 642, A1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038467
E. Perracchione, P. Massa, A.M. Massone, M. Piana, Astrophys. J. 919, 133 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac158d
T.A. Prince, G.J. Hurford, H.S. Hudson, C.J. Crannell, Sol. Phys. 118, 269 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148596
J. Saqri, A.M. Veronig, A. Warmuth, E.C.M. Dickson, A.F. Battaglia, T. Podladchikova, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 659, A52 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142373
A. Warmuth, H. Önel, G. Mann, J. Rendtel, K.G. Strassmeier, C. Denker, et al., Sol. Phys. 295, 90 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-020-01660-w
Z. Zhang, D.-Y. Chen, J. Wu, J. Chang, Y.-M. Hu, Y. Su, et al., Res. Astron. Astrophys. 19, 160 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/19/11/160
Acknowledgements
Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA, operated by ESA. We thank all the individuals who contributed to STIX, and all the funding agencies that supported STIX: Swiss Space Office, the lead funding agency for STIX, the Polish National Science Centre (grants 2011/01/M/ST9/06096 and 2015/19/B/ST9/02826), Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), Commissariat àl‘énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), the Czech Ministry of Education (via the PRODEX program), Deutsches Zentrum für Luftund Raumfahrt (DLR) (grants: 50 OT 0903, 1004, 1204), the Austrian Space Programme, ESA PRODEX, administered in Ireland by Enterprise Ireland, the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) and the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF). L.A.H and S.M. are supported by ESA Research Fellowships. The authors would like to thank Alexander Warmuth and Olivier Limousin for their comments that helped improve this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hayes, L.A., Musset, S., Müller, D., Krucker, S. (2024). The Spectrometer Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) on Solar Orbiter. In: Bambi, C., Santangelo, A. (eds) Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6960-7_168
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6960-7_168
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-6959-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-6960-7
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics