IRIS: Calibrated Solar Images and Spectra from NASA

NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) provides calibrated ultraviolet images and spectra of the Sun. Images capture features as small as 240 km every 5-10 seconds at temperatures from 5,000 K to 120,000 K (up to 10 million K during flares). Spectra are obtained every 2-30 seconds along a slit, providing data on material velocity, temperature, and density in the solar atmosphere.

Use Cases

• Analyzing solar flare dynamics based on high-temperature (up to 10 million K) spectral data.
• Tracking chromospheric and transition region material movement based on 5-10 second cadence UV images.
• Modeling solar atmospheric heating and energy transfer based on multi-temperature (5,000 K to 120,000 K) observations.
• Studying small-scale solar features (down to 240 km) based on high-resolution slitjaw images.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated for dark current, flat-field, and geometric deformation, indicating a processed, analysis-ready level-2 product.
• Observations cover a wide temperature range from 5,000 K to 10 million K, capturing diverse solar phenomena.
• High temporal cadence with images every 5-10 seconds and spectra every 2-30 seconds enables dynamic event analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) satellite telescope.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:48:12.862327; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Observations of the Sun's photosphere, chromosphere, and transition region.