NASA’s PUNCH Spacecraft Captures a Stunning Cosmic Rainbow in the Zodiacal Light

NASA just released stunning images from its new spacecraft, PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), which is all about exploring the sun. Launched on March 11, 2025, PUNCH includes four small satellites orbiting Earth. Together, they aim to give us a better understanding of the sun’s corona and the solar wind—a constant stream of charged particles from the sun.

One of the highlights? A colorful view of zodiacal light, a soft glow caused by sunlight scattering off dust particles in space. This was captured by PUNCH’s WFI-2 instrument on April 18, showing a rainbow effect as the colors transition from red to green and blue against a backdrop of twinkling stars. While it isn’t a true rainbow, this image illustrates the instrument’s power to analyze different light wavelengths, giving us insight into the solar atmosphere.

PUNCH’s mission is crucial for understanding how solar wind affects our planet. According to NASA, the sunlight scattered by space dust creates this delicate glow, which helps scientists study the conditions in the corona and solar wind more effectively. Measuring light polarization, or the direction it travels after being scattered, is key to this research.

In another exciting moment, on April 27, the Narrow Field Imager (NFI) documented the new moon passing by the sun. This image, featuring the moon illuminated by Earthshine, helped scientists ensure the NFI’s view of the corona wouldn’t be blocked.

PUNCH comprises three Wide Field Imagers (WFIs) intended to observe faint details of the corona and solar wind. On April 16, both WFI-1 and WFI-3 captured the soft glow of zodiacal light, showing the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters along with the Andromeda galaxy.

Why does this matter? Understanding solar winds is crucial for protecting Earth. Solar flares can disrupt satellites, communication systems, and even power grids. According to a report by NOAA, a significant solar storm could cost the U.S. economy billions in damages and outages. Continuous monitoring by missions like PUNCH helps us prepare for such events.

PUNCH launched alongside another NASA craft called SPHEREx, designed to survey the universe in infrared. NASA plans to map the entire sky in 102 different infrared wavelengths—something never done before. “We are literally mapping the entire celestial sky,” says Nicky Fox, a NASA administrator.

With missions like PUNCH and SPHEREx, we’re not just looking at the sun and stars; we’re gathering valuable data that could impact our future.

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