WISPR

The Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) is an imaging instrument of the Parker Solar Probe mission to the Sun, launched in August 2018.^[1] Imaging targets include visible light images of the corona, solar wind, shocks, solar ejecta, etc.^[1] Development of WISPR was led by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.^[2] The Parker Solar Probe with WISPR on board was launched by a Delta IV Heavy on 12 August 2018 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.^[3] WISPR is intended take advantage of the spacecraft's proximity to the Sun by taking coronagraph-style images of the solar corona and features like coronal streamers, plumes, and mass ejections.^[4] One of the goals is to better understand the structure of the solar corona near the Sun.^[4]

WISPR is designed to study the electron density and velocity structure of the corona.^[5] The instrument field of view is planned to extend from 13 to 108 degrees away from the Sun, and does not directly image the Sun; the area of interest is a very wide field extending away from the Sun.^[1]

WISPR includes two separate telescopes, each with a radiation-hardened CMOS imager with resolution of 2,048×1,920 pixels.^[6] The CMOS sensors are an active pixel sensor type of detector.^[7]

The WISPR first light image was published in September 2018.^[8] In December, a view of the corona including a coronal streamer was released.^[9]

In November 2018, a video of WIPSR recording solar wind during the spacecraft's first close pass to the Sun was released.^[10] One project scientist noted, "The data we’re seeing from Parker Solar Probe’s instruments is showing us details about solar structures and processes that we have never seen before."^[10]