C08

Presentation Title: Solar Flares X-ray Irradiance Observations from the Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) CubeSats
Author(s): Crisel Suarez Vanderbilt University Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Christopher S. Moore Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Amir Caspi Southwest Research Institute Phil Chamberlin Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Brendan D'Aquino Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Anant Kumar University of Alberta James Mason Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Bennet Schwab Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Robert Sewell Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Tom Woods Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Abstract:

The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) CubeSats were the first solar science-oriented CubeSat mission flown for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, with the main objective of measuring the absolute radiometrically calibrated energy distribution of solar soft X-ray emission over a large spectral bandpass at a moderate spectral resolution (nominal 0.15 keV energy resolution at 5.9 keV). The MinXSS Cuebsats were successful in measuring the solar soft X-ray irradiance in the energy range of 0.8 - 12 keV. The first of the twin CubeSats, MinXSS-1, has observed over 30 solar flares from June 2016 to May 2017 over its 1-year mission lifetime. MinXSS-2 observed the quiescent Sun during December 2018-January 2019 and small B class flare. Since February 2022, the next generation MinXSS, the Dual Aperture X-ray Solar Spectrometer (DAXSS), has been conducting higher sensitivity and higher spectral resolution measurements. The spectral measurements and unique energy resolution at the time, provided by MinXSS can constrain solar flare and active region temperature structure, emission measure, and abundances of Fe, Ca, Si, and, S. We present the science results of the MinXSS-1 and MinXSS-2 measurements for flares. These results have proven to be consistent with numerous solar observations from GOES, Hinode/XRT, and SDO/AIA providing constraints in modeling and understanding solar flare phenomena, therefore proving the scientific capabilities of CubeSats.