Theoretical, on-ground and in-flight study of the Metis coronagraph vignetting

On-board the Solar Orbiter ESA/NASA mission there is Metis, a coronagraph designed to study the solar corona by providing an artificial solar eclipse. Metis features two channels working at the ultraviolet Lyman-α (121.6 nm) and in the visible light (580-640 nm). On-ground, the Metis radiometric performance has been tested using a flat-field panel (uniform illumination); the stability of the performance can be verified in-flight through the analysis of the stars passing in the Metis Field of View. Care must be taken to ensure the quality of the calibration, both before launch and for the long period associated with the space mission lifetime. For this reason, we are carrying out long period research of stars that cross the Field of View of Metis. In this paper, we describe the vignetting function acquired: on-ground, simulated via a raytracing code and in-flight derived from on-ground measurements (performing some adjustments to account for the real Metis flight configuration). These vignetting functions are then compared with the vignetting data derived from the passage of the star Theta Ophiuchi in March and December 2021. Additional presentation content can be accessed on the supplemental content page