SOLAR OBSERVATORY:

HINODE

By: Kiana and Meagan

Purpose To measure solar magnetic fields To understand how energy generated by

magnetic-field changes in the lower solar atmosphere (photosphere) is transmitted to the upper solar atmosphere (corona)

To understand how that energy influences the dynamics and structure of that upper atmosphere

To determine how the energy transfer and atmospheric dynamics affects the interplanetary-space environment

Instruments The Solar Optical Telescope This suite of instruments will for the first time

precisely measure small changes in the sun's magnetic field. The instruments also will show how these changes evolve and coincide with dynamic events seen in the sun's corona, which extends millions of miles into space.

The X-ray Telescope will capture X-ray images of the sun's corona -- the hot, million-degree, outer atmosphere. The corona is the spawning ground for the solar flares and coronal mass ejections that dominate the space between the sun and Earth. These phenomena are powered by the sun's magnetic field. By combining observations by Solar-B's optical and X-ray telescopes, scientists will be able to study how changes in the sun’s magnetic field trigger these explosive solar event

The primary function of Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Package is to measure the flow velocity, or speed of solar particles, and diagnose the temperature and density of solar plasma, its corona and beyond. The Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Package provides a crucial link between the other two instruments because it can measure the layers that separate the photosphere from the corona -- an area known as the chromosphere and the chromosphere-corona transition.

Image of the sun taken by the XRT on the Hinode on Mar. 16, 2012

Venis Transit on June 5, 2012

Active Region 11967 consisted of a major sunspot that released numerous solar flares in early 2014. This is an image taken by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard Hinode on Feb. 7, 2014