Pereira, T. M. D., De Pontieu, B., Carlsson, M., Hansteen, V., Tarbell, T. D., Lemen, J., Title, A., Boerner, P., Hurlburt, N., Wülser, J. P., Martínez-Sykora, J., Kleint, L., Golub, L., McKillop, S., Reeves, Katharine K., Saar, S., Testa, P., Tian, H., Jaeggli, S., and Kankelborg, C. 2014. "An Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph First View on Solar Spicules." The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 792 L15. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/792/1/L15.
Solar spicules have eluded modelers and observers for decades. Since the discovery of the more energetic type II, spicules have become a heated topic but their contribution to the energy balance of the low solar atmosphere remains unknown. Here we give a first glimpse of what quiet-Sun spicules look like when observed with NASA's recently launched Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). Using IRIS spectra and filtergrams that sample the chromosphere and transition region, we compare the properties and evolution of spicules as observed in a coordinated campaign with Hinode and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. Our IRIS observations allow us to follow the thermal evolution of type
