NASA is preparing to launch a groundbreaking solar mission, marking the first-ever effort to closely study the solar atmosphere. The mission, called Polarimetry to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH), will examine the formation, origins, and evolution of solar winds and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), both of which influence space weather.
Scheduled for launch on February 28 by SpaceX, the PUNCH mission will consist of four small satellites, each weighing around 64 kg. These satellites will be placed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for a two-year mission lifespan.
PUNCH is unique as it is specifically designed to utilize light polarization to analyze the solar corona and solar wind in three dimensions, a first for solar research.
Understanding space weather is critical because anomalies in space weather can disrupt Earth’s satellite communication, GPS navigation, power grids, and more. NASA states that data from PUNCH will help scientists improve the accuracy of space weather predictions and better understand the impact on Earth as well as robotic explorers in space.
PUNCH will use its wide field of view and four onboard cameras to capture continuous, high-resolution images of the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere. These images will provide physicists with a 3D representation of solar wind formation and how the sun’s atmosphere transitions into solar wind. This will help researchers understand the forces acting within the corona.
The mission will include three Wide Field Imager (WFI) cameras and one Narrow Field Imager. Every four minutes, each camera will capture three images with different polarizing filters, along with one unpolarized image every eight minutes. These images will enable scientists to measure polarised light, which is essential for understanding solar wind and CMEs.
Dibyendu Nandi, a solar physicist from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, explained that PUNCH will help determine where CMEs and solar winds form, how they evolve and accelerate, and the forces behind their speed. This data is crucial for accurately predicting space weather events.
Unlike previous solar missions, PUNCH’s four-camera system will work together as one large virtual instrument, creating comprehensive, detailed 3D images of the solar corona, providing a wealth of new information about the sun’s behavior.
