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Ames Science Missions
Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, mission will use a solar telescope and spectrograph to explore the solar chromospheres. This is a crucial region for understanding energy transport into the solar wind and an archetype for stellar atmospheres. Recent discoveries have shown the chromosphere is significantly more dynamic and structured than previously thought.
Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX (GEMS)
Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX, or GEMS, will use an X-ray telescope to track the flow of highly magnetized matter into super massive black holes. Among the thousands of X-ray sources observed with prior and current X-ray satellites, only one astrophysical object, the Crab Nebula, has been measured in polarized X-rays.