Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), also called Explorer 94 and SMEX-12, is a <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> solar observation satellite. The mission was funded through the <a href="/facts/Small_Explorer_program/UAWJXqxP">Small Explorer program</a> to investigate the physical conditions of the solar limb, particularly the interface region made up of the <a href="/facts/Chromosphere/TurLRnLk">chromosphere</a> and <a href="/facts/Solar_transition_region/fwsuHRhk">transition region</a>. The spacecraft consists of a <a href="/facts/Satellite_bus/UMlFYAUY">satellite bus</a> and <a href="/facts/Spectrometer/IqRE8xaQ">spectrometer</a> built by the <a href="/facts/Lockheed_Martin/URp9BQpA">Lockheed Martin</a> Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), and a telescope provided by the <a href="/facts/Smithsonian_Astrophysical_Observatory/1Bz2ApPt">Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory</a> (SAO). IRIS is operated by LMSAL and NASA's <a href="/facts/Ames_Research_Center/DQUsdLam">Ames Research Center</a>.
The satellite's instrument is a high-frame-rate ultraviolet <a href="/facts/Imaging_spectrometer/tvbspRKC">imaging spectrometer</a>, providing one image per second at 0.3-<a href="/facts/Arcsecond/tybs6YGC">arcsecond</a> angular resolution and sub-<a href="/facts/%C3%85ngstr%C3%B6m/T5mjdd97">ångström</a> spectral resolution.
NASA announced, on 19 June 2009, that IRIS was selected from six Small Explorer mission candidates for further study, along with the <a href="/facts/Gravity_and_Extreme_Magnetism/Wprc4Ex4">Gravity and Extreme Magnetism</a> (GEMS) space observatory.

Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph open-in-new

Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph