The Pinhole/Occulter Facility

Abstract

A large occulting system in space can be used for high-re solution X-ray observations and for large-aperture coronagraphic observations in visible and UV light. The X-ray observations will combine high angular resolution in hard (>10 keV) X-radiation with the high sensitivity of a multiple-pinhole camera, and will permit sensitive observations of bremsstrahlung from nonthermal particles in the corona. The large-aperture coronagraphs have two major advantages: high angular resolution and good photon collection. This will permit observations of small-scale structures in the corona for the first time and will give sufficient counting rates above the coronal background rates for sensitive diagnostic analysis of intensities and line profiles for coronal structures in the solar wind acceleration region.