7th Announcement of Opportunity for Science Planners in the NASA-led IRIS mission
8 March 2021
This 7th Announcement of Opportunity (AO), open to scientists affiliated with institutes located in ESA Member States, solicits proposals for participation as Science Planners in the NASA-led IRIS mission.The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) mission, launched in 2013, that allows tracing the flow of solar energy and plasma from the photosphere through the chromosphere and transition region into the corona using spectroscopy and imaging in ultraviolet windows between 130 and 283 nm. IRIS can reveal the dynamics of the chromosphere and transition region, and allow understanding the processes powering them. IRIS is a major leap from previous and existing solar spectrographs (e.g., SOHO/CDS or SUMER; Hinode/EIS) in terms of spatial (0.3-0.4 arcsec), temporal (2 s), and spectral (3 km/s) resolution.
ESA's participation in IRIS is in the form of a Mission of Opportunity, and entails the access of competitively selected scientists based in ESA Member States to the IRIS mission's observations, under the form of Science Planners. A maximum of three scientists will be appointed through the present AO. The appointment period will be for one year.
Full details of this AO, including all documentation and the proposal submission form, are on the dedicated AO home page at:
https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/iris-2021
Schedule
| Event | Date |
| Date of AO release | 8 March 2021 |
| Due date for proposals | 19 April 2021, 12:00 (noon) CEST |
| Appointment of successful proposers | June 2021 |