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TIAN Hui, BAI Xianyong, FENG Li, XIONG Ming, CHEN Yajie, HOU Zhenyong, WANG Yamin. Coronal Explorer for Our Sun and Nearby Stars(in Chinese). Chinese Journal of Space Science, 2025, 45(4): 881-898 doi: 10.11728/cjss2025.04.2025-0060
Citation: TIAN Hui, BAI Xianyong, FENG Li, XIONG Ming, CHEN Yajie, HOU Zhenyong, WANG Yamin. Coronal Explorer for Our Sun and Nearby Stars(in Chinese). Chinese Journal of Space Science, 2025, 45(4): 881-898 doi: 10.11728/cjss2025.04.2025-0060
shu

Coronal Explorer for Our Sun and Nearby Stars

doi: 10.11728/cjss2025.04.2025-0060 cstr: 32142.14.cjss.2025-0060
  • 1.

    School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871

  • 2.

    National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012

  • 3.

    Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008

  • 4.

    State Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190

  • 5.

    Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen 37077

  • 6.

    Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203

  • Received Date: 2025-04-16
  • Rev Recd Date: 2025-06-06
    • Available Online: 2025-06-09
    Abstract
  • We propose to launch the first Extreme-Ultraviolet (EUV) space science mission in China, the Coronal Explorer for our Sun and nearby Stars (CESS), to explore the sources of space weather both within and beyond the solar system, specifically the solar and stellar coronae. The CESS mission is designed to observe the Sun and nearby late-type stars from a single satellite platform. The spacecraft will operate in about 720 km altitude sun-synchronous orbit, enabling continuous and uninterrupted solar coronal observations. Simultaneously, observations of nearby stars will be achieved using an alt-azimuth mount for precise pointing and long-term tracking, facilitating continuous monitoring of stellar coronae. The primary scientific objects of this mission are as follows. (1) Characterize the physical properties of the source regions of solar coronal outflows and eruptions through full-disk EUV spectroscopy of the Sun. (2) Fill the current observational gap in extrasolar EUV observations, detect stellar coronal eruptions through long-term EUV photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of the coronae of selected nearby late-type stars, and pioneer a new frontier in understanding extrasolar space weather (space weather in star-exoplanet systems). (3) Explore the role of space weather in the formation of a habitable world through point-source EUV observations of the Sun and other stars, and provide crucial clues for addressing the profound question: are we alone in the universe? To fulfill these scientific goals, the spacecraft will be equipped with four key science payloads: an EUV solar-disk spectrometer (comprising a Sun-as-a-star spectrometer and a multi-slit spectrometer with a full-disk field of view), an EUV spectroscopic coronagraph, a stellar EUV spectrometer, and a stellar EUV photometer. The CESS mission will contribute to the precise prediction of space weather in the solar system, uncover the origin of exosolar space weather, and offer crucial clues for the search for potentially habitable worlds and extraterrestrial life.

     

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