NASA is preparing to launch a new solar satellite (Right Now!! 6:27 p.m. PDT, 9:27 p.m. EDT.) Live Stream: ibtimes/nasa-iris-launch-live-stream-watch-new-solar-observatory-make-its-way-earths-orbit-1326581 This satellite will give the necessary observations needed for understanding how energy is delivered to the million-degree outer solar corona, as well as explain how the base of the solar wind is driven. The launch is scheduled for June 26th. The Interface Region Imaging spectrograph (IRIS) will provide the most detailed look at the Sun’s lower atmosphere (or interface region) by observing how solar material moves, gathers energy, and heats up as it travels through this largely unexplored region of the Solar atmosphere. The IRIS data will fill an important gap in our understanding of the solar interface region. The satellite will carry an ultraviolet telescope that feeds a multichannel imaging spectrograph, this is the first mission designed to use and ultraviolet telescope to obtain high-resolution images and spectra every few seconds, it will also provide observations of areas as small as 150 km across the Sun. IRIS will provide information, such as the velocity, temperature, and density of specific jet like structures previously observed within the solar atmosphere. The Satellite will travel in a polar, Sun-synchronous orbit around Earth, at an altitude range 630 to 680 km. this obit will allows for most continuous solar observation during the IRIS’s two- year mission.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 01:36:03 +0000