{"id":253102,"date":"2025-07-18T04:09:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-research\/heliophysics\/nasa-to-launch-snifs-suns-next-trailblazing-spectator\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T04:09:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:09:27","slug":"nasa-to-launch-snifs-suns-next-trailblazing-spectator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=253102","title":{"rendered":"NASA to Launch SNIFS, Sun\u2019s Next Trailblazing Spectator"},"content":{"rendered":"
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4 min read<\/p>\n

NASA to Launch SNIFS, Sun\u2019s Next Trailblazing Spectator<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

July will see the launch of the groundbreaking Solar EruptioN Integral Field Spectrograph mission, or SNIFS. Delivered to space via a Black Brant IX sounding rocket, SNIFS will explore the energy and dynamics of the chromosphere, one of the most complex regions of the Sun\u2019s atmosphere. The SNIFS mission\u2019s launch window at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico opens on Friday, July 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The chromosphere is located between the Sun\u2019s visible surface, or photosphere, and its outer layer, the corona. The different layers of the Sun\u2019s atmosphere have been researched at length, but many questions persist about the chromosphere. \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of unknowns,\u201d said Phillip Chamberlin, a research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and principal investigator for the SNIFS mission.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The reddish chromosphere is visible on the Sun\u2019s right edge in this view of the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse from Madras, Oregon.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\/Nat Gopalswamy<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The chromosphere lies just below the corona, where powerful solar flares and massive coronal mass ejections are observed. These solar eruptions are the main drivers of space weather, the hazardous conditions in near-Earth space that threaten satellites and endanger astronauts. The SNIFS mission aims to learn more about how energy is converted and moves through the chromosphere, where it can ultimately power these massive explosions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make sure the Earth is safe from space weather, we really would like to be able to model things,\u201d said Vicki Herde, a doctoral graduate of CU Boulder who worked with Chamberlin to develop SNIFS.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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This footage from NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the Sun in the 304-angstrom band of extreme ultraviolet light, which primarily reveals light from the chromosphere. This video, captured on Feb. 22, 2024, shows a solar flare \u2014 as seen in the bright flash on the upper left.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Credit: NASA\/SDO<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The SNIFS mission is the first ever solar ultraviolet integral field spectrograph, an advanced technology combining an imager and a spectrograph. Imagers capture photos and videos, which are good for seeing the combined light from a large field of view all at once. Spectrographs dissect light into its various wavelengths, revealing which elements are present in the light source, their temperature, and how they\u2019re moving \u2014 but only from a single location at a time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The SNIFS mission combines these two technologies into one instrument.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best of both worlds,\u201d said Chamberlin. \u201cYou\u2019re pushing the limit of what technology allows us to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

By focusing on specific wavelengths, known as spectral lines, the SNIFS mission will help scientists to learn about the chromosphere. These wavelengths include a spectral line of hydrogen that is the brightest line in the Sun\u2019s ultraviolet (UV) spectrum, and two spectral lines from the elements silicon and oxygen. Together, data from these spectral lines will help reveal how the chromosphere connects with upper atmosphere by tracing how solar material and energy move through it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The SNIFS mission will be carried into space by a sounding rocket. These rockets are effective tools for launching and carrying space experiments and offer a valuable opportunity for hands-on experience, particularly for students and early-career researchers.<\/p>\n

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(From left to right) Vicki Herde, Joseph Wallace, and Gabi Gonzalez, who worked on the SNIFS mission, stand with the sounding rocket containing the rocket payload at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.<\/div>\n
Credit: courtesy of Phillip Chamberlin<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cYou can really try some wild things,\u201d Herde said. \u201cIt gives the opportunity to allow students to touch the hardware.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chamberlin emphasized how beneficial these types of missions can be for science and engineering students like Herde, or the next generation of space scientists, who \u201ccome with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of new ideas, new techniques,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The entirety of the SNIFS mission will likely last up to 15 minutes. After launch, the sounding rocket is expected to take 90 seconds to make it to space and point toward the Sun, seven to eight minutes to perform the experiment on the chromosphere, and three to five minutes to return to Earth\u2019s surface.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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