Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS): NASA launches satellite to study Sun’s atmosphere

July 2, 2013

The U.S. space agency NASA launched a satellite to uncover the secrets of the Sun’s lower atmosphere. NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) was launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket off the California coast.
About IRIS mission:
Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a $182 million mission which will continue for two years.
It aims to observe the movement of solar material. It will try to know how it gathers energy and heats up as it makes its way through a mysterious region in the sun’s lower atmosphere. IRIS will help in knowing not only the causes the ejection of solar material, including solar wind, but also solar eruptions that can disrupt human technology.
What is this mysterious region?
This is a region b/w the sun’s photosphere and corona where most of the sun’s ultraviolet emission is generated, which impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth’s climate.

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