Hinode

Hinode, meaning sunrise in Japanese, is an international solar-observatory mission designed to study the Sun's magnetic field and the heating of its outer atmosphere. It was launched on September 22, 2006, as Solar-B in a collaboration among JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), NASA, and the UK's Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC, now STFC). The spacecraft is operated from Japan and provides high-resolution observations of the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona.

Hinode carries three primary instruments: the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). SOT delivers diffraction-limited optical images and vector magnetic-field measurements of the photosphere; XRT images the solar corona in soft X-rays; EIS performs spectroscopy in the extreme ultraviolet to reveal plasma properties and flows in the upper atmosphere. The instruments were developed with international partners, including NAOJ, ISAS, NASA, and UK institutes.

Scientific aims include understanding how magnetic energy stored in the Sun's interior is released in the atmosphere, leading to phenomena such as sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections, as well as the general physics of coronal heating and solar wind acceleration. Over its mission, Hinode has produced continuous, high-resolution data sets contributing to studies of magnetic reconnection, flux emergence, and dynamic solar features.

Hinode has exceeded its original design life and remains a foundational resource for solar physics. Data from the mission are publicly available to researchers worldwide, and its observations continue to inform both fundamental science and space-weather forecasting.