On June 28 there was the launch of the IRIS (Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph) space probe, a part of the Small Explorer Program which aims to explore space with probes that have a contained cost. On July 17 the great day came when the IRIS probe started sending the mages captured by its telescope and the results show that it’s already keeping its promises providing researchers with details of the lower layer of the solar atmosphere never seen before.
When it started observing the solar atmosphere, the IRIS space probe has revealed a number of thin fibril-like structures that had never been seen before. Those images have revealed enormous contrasts in density and temperature existing in that region even between areas distant from each other a few hundred kilometers. The images also show areas whose brightness increases and decreases rapidly, an element that provides clues on the way the energy is absorbed and transported throughout the region.
Those details, much higher than those detectable even by a probe that’s designed to observe the Sun such as the SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory), are essential to understand how energy flows throughout the region. The goal is to understand how in the corona, the upper region of the solar atmosphere, temperatures can exceed one million Kelvins.
The telescope and spectrograph of the IRIS spacecraft work together to provide the data needed by scientists. The light from the telescope is split into two components: one provides high-resolution images while the second is the spectrograph that provides information on many wavelengths at the same time.
The information provided by the spectrograph allow to understand at which wavelength the Sun emits more light. The analysis of the information allows tracking speed, temperature and density, fundamental to track the way energy and heat move throughout the region.
The data collected by the IRIS space probe are processed to interpret its observations. This is an important part of the research that today may lead to considerable steps forward thanks to the quality of these new observations and the power of today’s computers.
This is just the beginning of the IRIS mission, which should allow us to know much better some behaviors of the Sun that have significant consequences on Earth.
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