NASA's Newly Launched IRIS Captures its Strongest Solar Flare to Date [VIDEO]

The IRIS telescope captured its strongest solar flare since its launch in 2013, said NASA in a latest announcement.

The solar observatory 'Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph' (IRIS) was launched on June 27, 2013, by NASA to trace the hidden mysteries of our nearest star. The small explorer mission, weighing less than 400 pounds, has captured the strongest solar flare, bursts of X-ray and lights that jet out into the space, on Jan 28. 2014.

The scientists do not have much information on what triggered the event on Jan. 28. The scientists initially observed a magnetically active region in the Sun and centered the IRIS on it to observe the behavior of solar material under pressure from strong magnetic forces. Around 2.40 p.m. EST they observed a moderate flare (labeled M class) erupting from the area, which sent streams of light and x-rays into space.

IRIS studies the layer of the sun's atmosphere called the chromospheres, which controls the flow of energy and material as it transfers from the surface of the sun into the vast space. During this journey, the energy heats the upper atmosphere called the corona and at times is known to trigger solar events like solar flares.

The 7 by 12 feet IRIS consists of an ultraviolet telescope and a spectrograph. It is capable of capturing high resolution images and even resolves small features that are as tiny as 150 miles across. And the spectrograph analyzes the light of the Sun by dividing it in to several wavelengths and measuring it. By analyzing the spectral lines, the scientists can get data on the velocity, temperature and density that further offer an insight into the movement of heat and energy around the nearest star.

"The quality of the images and spectra we are receiving from IRIS is amazing," Alan Title, IRIS principal investigator said in an earlier news release."And we're getting this kind of quality from a smaller, less expensive mission, which took only 44 months to build."

During this solar flare, when the activity reached its peak, the spectrograph of the instrument was focused onto the center of the flare, which can help scientists determine how various temperatures of material flow and also improve their knowledge of solar flares.

"The mission is a great example of a successful partnership for science between government, industry, academia, and international institutions. We look forward to the new insights IRIS will provide," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said earlier.

The IRIS telescope was designed and built by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory while Montana State University faculty and students assisted in the design of the spectrograph.