{"id":346443,"date":"2026-03-14T20:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T20:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/346443\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T20:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T20:09:23","slug":"nasas-tiny-sparcs-spacecraft-sends-first-images-of-flaring-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/346443\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA’s tiny SPARCS spacecraft sends first images of flaring stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA has received the first images from a tiny spacecraft designed to study the stars that host distant planets. The mission, called the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS, will track how stellar activity affects the habitability of nearby worlds.<\/p>\n

The first images confirm the spacecraft\u2019s instruments operate correctly in space. Scientists can now begin studying ultraviolet radiation from some of the galaxy\u2019s most common stars.<\/p>\n

SPARCS launched on Jan. 11. The spacecraft transmitted its first images on Feb. 6 after engineers completed early checks. <\/p>\n

The data has since been processed, marking a key milestone known as \u201cfirst light.\u201d The event confirms the telescope and detectors work properly in orbit.<\/p>\n

First light signals that a spacecraft\u2019s instruments function correctly in space. For SPARCS, the test matters because the mission depends on precise ultraviolet measurements.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft is roughly the size of a large cereal box. Despite its small size, it will study a key group of stars.<\/p>\n

These low-mass stars contain about 30 percent to 70 percent of the Sun\u2019s mass. <\/p>\n

They are among the most common stars in the Milky Way and host many rocky planets.<\/p>\n

Watching active stars<\/p>\n

SPARCS will study about 20 low-mass stars during its one-year mission. The spacecraft<\/a> will observe each target for five to 45 days.<\/p>\n

Scientists want to understand how often these stars flare and how intense those eruptions become. Stellar flares release radiation that can affect nearby planetary atmospheres.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>SPARCS captured stars in near-UV and far-UV on Feb. 6, revealing temperature differences, with the star visible in both bands being the hottest. Credit \u2013 NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU<\/p>\n

Although these stars appear cooler and dimmer than the Sun, they flare far more frequently. <\/p>\n

Understanding the host star helps scientists judge whether surrounding planets could remain habitable.<\/p>\n

New ultraviolet technology<\/p>\n

SPARCS also tests advanced ultraviolet detector technology developed at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.<\/p>\n

The mission uses a camera called SPARCam. Engineers built it with specialized filters placed directly on sensitive ultraviolet detectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so excited that we are on the brink of learning about exoplanets\u2019 host stars and the effect of their activities on the planets\u2019 potential habitability,\u201d said Shouleh Nikzad, the lead developer of the SPARCS camera (dubbed SPARCam) and the chief technologist at NASA<\/a>\u2018s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took silicon-based detectors \u2014 the same technology as in your smartphone camera \u2014 and we created a high-sensitivity UV imager. Then we integrated filters into the detector to reject the unwanted light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a huge leap forward to doing big science in small packages,\u201d Nikzad said, \u201cand SPARCS serves to demonstrate their long-term performance in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SPARCS mission brings all of these pieces together \u2014 focused science, cutting-edge detectors, and intelligent onboard processing \u2014 to deepen our understanding of the stars that most planets in the galaxy call home,\u201d said David Ardila, SPARCS instrument scientist at JPL.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy watching these stars in ultraviolet light in a way we\u2019ve never done before, we\u2019re not just studying flares.\u201d He added that the observations will help scientists interpret the habitability of distant planets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA has received the first images from a tiny spacecraft designed to study the stars that host distant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[91908,61,60,158016,158017,82,247,158018,158019,158020],"class_list":{"0":"post-346443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-cubesat","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-nasa-spacecraft","12":"tag-nasa-sparcs-mission","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-space","15":"tag-sparcs","16":"tag-ultraviolet-astronomy","17":"tag-uv-telescope"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}