| 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
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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.