Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

IRIS is intended to advance Sun-Earth connection studies by tracing the flow of energy and plasma into the corona and heliosphere for which no suitable observations exist. To achieve this IRIS obtains a high-resolution UV spectra and images of the Sun's chromosphere, specifically on the non-thermal energy that creates the corona and the solar wind. IRIS seeks to determine: (1) the types of non-thermal energy which dominate in the chromosphere and beyond; (2) the means by which the chromosphere regulates mass and energy supply to the corona and heliosphere; and, (3) how magnetic flux and matter rise through the lower solar atmosphere, and the role played by flux emergence in flares and mass ejections. To answer these questions, IRIS utilize a single instrument, a multi-channel imaging spectrograph. File:IRIS observatory overview.png File:IRIS spectrograph assembly.png == Launch ==

The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on 16 April 2013 and was successfully deployed from an Orbital L-1011 carrier aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of , roughly northwest of Vandenberg. The launch vehicle was dropped at 02:27:46 UTC on 28 June 2013 (7:27 p.m. PDT on 27 June 2013) by a Pegasus-XL launch vehicle. == Experiment ==

Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) The IRIS instrument is a multi-channel imaging spectrograph with a ultraviolet telescope. IRIS obtains a spectra along a slit (1/3 arcsecond wide), and slit-jaw images. The charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors has 1/6 arcsecond pixels. IRIS will have an effective spatial resolution between 0.33 and 0.40 arcsecond and a maximum field of view (FoV) of 120 arcseconds. The far-ultraviolet channel covers 133.2-135.8 nm and 139.0-140.6 nm with an 0.04 nm resolution and an effective area of . The near-ultraviolet channel covers 278.5-283.5 nm with an 0.08 nm resolution and an effective area of . Slit-jaw imaging has four passbands: 133.5 nm and 140.0 nm with a 4 nm bandpass each; and 279.6 nm and 283.1 nm with a 0.4 nm bandpass each. IRIS has a high data rate (0.7 Mbit/s on average) so that the baseline cadence is 5 seconds for slit-jaw images and 1 second for six spectral windows, including rapid rastering to map solar regions. == Science results ==

IRIS achieved first light on 17 July 2013. A Slice of Light How IRIS Observes the Sun.webm|Video of IRIS data from a solar flare on 11 March 2015 Iris-sdo-x1.6-20140910.jpg|X-class solar flare on Sept. 10, 2014 Iris 20150428 100823 0.gif|IRIS captured several large solar prominences on the edge of the Sun IRIS Image of Sun dec 2013.jpg|IRIS view above the Sun's surface extending well out into the solar atmosphere == IRIS team ==

Science and engineering team members include: • Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory • Lockheed Martin Sensing and Exploration Systems • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory • Montana State University • Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo • High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research • Stanford University • NASA Ames Research Center • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center • National Solar Observatory • Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory • Sydney Institute for Astronomy, University of Sydney • Center for Plasma Astrophysics, Catholic University of Leuven • Mullard Space Science Laboratory • Rutherford Appleton Laboratory • European Space Agency • Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research • National Astronomical Observatory of Japan • Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen == References ==