First maps of Radial Velocities of Coronal Features from 1-3 Rs inferred from Proba-3/ASPIICS

Authors: Zac Bailey (Institute for Astronomy at University of Hawaii at Manoa), Shadia Habbal (Institute for Astronomy at University of Hawaii at Manoa), Colby Haggerty (Institute for Astronomy at University of Hawaii at Manoa)

The solar wind shapes interplanetary space and dictates the impact of space weather on the solar system. Spaced-based observatories, such as Parker Solar Probe, continue to push observations of the solar wind closer to the solar surface, but until recently, no current mission could make observations of the solar wind from its origin out to several solar radii with good temporal cadence. The recent coronagraphic measurements from the Proba-3/ASPIICS mission, launched in 2025, enable observations of the full plane-of-sky corona from ~1.1 – 3 Rs with high spatial and temporal resolution. The data are taken every 30s over each observational run lasting at least an hour. Our work utilizes this new advancement in coronagraphic observations from ASPIICS to produce a map of radial velocities of white light coronal features over almost the full observing run of the Proba-3/ASPIICS camera during 2025 July 16. The radial velocity map presented  here provides insight into how density-structures propagate throughout the 1-3 Rs region of the corona for the first time. This map reveals highly structured and coherent outflows, large-scale regions dominated by inflowing material, and the propagation of a coronal mass ejection, with a succession of fronts emerging at different speeds. The work shown here highlights the effectiveness of the Proba-3/ASPIICS mission for understanding the dynamics of the solar wind at its origin. This work also provides novel boundary conditions for state of the art coronal models.