Sunrise (telescope)
| Mission type | Balloon-borne telescope | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) | ||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||
| Mission duration | 6 days (2009) 5 days (2013) 6 days (2024) | ||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||
| Manufacturer | Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research Kiepenheuer Institute for Solar Physics High Altitude Observatory Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía Grupo de Astronomía y Ciencias del Espacio | ||||||||
| Launch mass | 2 t (2.0 long tons; 2.2 short tons) | ||||||||
| Power | 1.5 kW | ||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||
| Launch date | 8 June 2009 12 June 2013 10 July 2024 | ||||||||
| Launch site | Esrange Space Center Kiruna, Sweden | ||||||||
| End of mission | |||||||||
| Landing date | 14 June 2009 17 June 2013 16 July 2024 | ||||||||
| Landing site | Nunavut, Canada | ||||||||
| Main telescope | |||||||||
| Wavelengths | SuFI: 225, 280, 300, 313, 388 nm IMaX: 525.06 nm SUPOS: 854, 853.8 nm | ||||||||
| Resolution | 0.13-0.15 arcsec | ||||||||
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Sunrise is a balloon-borne astronomical observatory designed to observe the Sun's photosphere and chromosphere. It carries a 1-metre solar telescope that redirects infrared, visible, and ultraviolet radiation from the Sun to a suite of scientific instruments. Sunrise is managed by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.
Sunrise completed three successful science flights between 2009 and 2024. Sunrise I and II, flown in June 2009 and June 2013, respectively, both carried an imager and magnetograph. Sunrise III, flown in July 2024, carried updated instrumentation including two slit-based spectropolarimeters and a new magnetograph. All three flights were launched from the Esrange Space Center near Kiruna, Sweden and around the Northern-Hemisphere summer solstice when the polar day allowed for continuous observation of the Sun.
The first science flight of Sunrise yielded high-quality data that reveal the structure, dynamics and evolution of solar convection, oscillations and magnetic fields at a resolution of around 100 km in the quiet Sun.