The Solar EruptioN Integral Field Spectrograph

• Published in: Solar physics 2024, Vol.299 (8), p.120, Article 120
• Main Authors: Herde, Vicki L., Chamberlin, Phillip C., Schmit, Don, Daw, Adrian, Milligan, Ryan O., Polito, Vanessa, Bose, Souvik, Boyajian, Spencer, Buedel, Paris, Edgar, Will, Gebben, Alex, Gong, Qian, Jacobsen, Ross, Nell, Nicholas, Schwab, Bennet, Sims, Alan, Summers, David, Turner, Zachary, Valade, Trace, Wallace, Joseph
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Atmospheric Sciences; Chromosphere; Corona; Magnetic fields; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Reflecting telescopes; Solar flares; Solar physics; Sounding rockets; Space Exploration and Astronautics; Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics; Spicules; Subsystems; Sun; Telescopes; Wavelengths
• ISSN: 0038-0938; 1573-093X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11207-024-02367-y

The Solar eruptioN Integral Field Spectrograph (SNIFS) is a solar-gazing spectrograph scheduled to fly in the summer of 2025 on a NASA sounding rocket. Its goal is to view the solar chromosphere and transition region at a high cadence (1 s) both spatially ( 0.5 ″ ) and spectrally (33 mÅ) viewing wavelengths around Lyman alpha (1216 Å), Si  iii (1206 Å), and O  v (1218 Å) to observe spicules, nanoflares, and possibly a solar flare. This time cadence will provide yet-unobserved detail about fast-changing features of the Sun. The instrument is comprised of a Gregorian-style reflecting telescope combined with a spectrograph via a specialized mirrorlet array that focuses the light from each spatial location in the image so that it may be spectrally dispersed without overlap from neighboring locations. This paper discusses the driving science, detailed instrument and subsystem design, and preintegration testing of the SNIFS instrument.