Hinode (; ja, ひので, , Sunrise), formerly Solar-B, is a
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
Solar mission with
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
collaboration. It is the follow-up to the
Yohkoh
Yohkoh (, ''Sunbeam'' in Japanese language, Japanese), known before launch as Solar-A, was a Sun, Solar observatory spacecraft of the JAXA, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan), in collaboration with space agencies in the NASA ...
(Solar-A) mission and it was launched on the final flight of the
M-V rocket
The M-V rocket, also called M-5 or Mu-5, was a Japanese solid-fuel rocket designed to launch scientific satellites. It was a member of the Mu family of rockets. The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) began developing the M-V in ...
from
Uchinoura Space Center
The is a space launch facility in the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the (KSC). All of Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchino ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
on 22 September 2006 at 21:36
UTC (23 September, 06:36
JST). Initial orbit was perigee height 280 km, apogee height 686 km, inclination 98.3 degrees. Then the satellite maneuvered to the quasi-circular
sun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...
over the day/night
terminator
Terminator may refer to:
Science and technology
Genetics
* Terminator (genetics), the end of a gene for transcription
* Terminator technology, proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants by causing second generation s ...
, which allows near-continuous observation of the Sun. On 28 October 2006, the probe's instruments captured their first images.
The data from Hinode are being downloaded to the
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
, terrestrial
Svalsat station, operated by ''
Kongsberg
Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...
'' a few kilometres west of
Longyearbyen,
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
. From there, data is transmitted by
Telenor
Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
through a fibre-optic
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
to mainland Norway at
Harstad
( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...
, and on to data users in North America, Europe and Japan.
Mission
Hinode was planned as a three-year mission to explore the magnetic fields of the Sun. It consists of a coordinated set of optical,
extreme ultraviolet
Extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV or XUV) or high-energy ultraviolet radiation is electromagnetic radiation in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum spanning wavelengths from 124 nm down to 10 nm, and therefore (by the Planck–E ...
(EUV), and
x-ray
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
instruments to investigate the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its corona. The result will be an improved understanding of the mechanisms that power the solar atmosphere and drive solar eruptions. The EUV imaging spectrometer (EIS) was built by a consortium led by the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (
MSSL) in the
UK.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, the space agency of the United States, was involved with three science instrument components: the Focal Plane Package (FPP), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) and shares operations support for science planning and instrument command generation. The mission was extended to the end of 2020 with a likely extension lasting until 2022.
Instruments
![Hinode Views the 2012 Venus Transit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Hinode_Views_the_2012_Venus_Transit.jpg)
Hinode carries three main instruments to study the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
.
SOT (Solar Optical Telescope)
A 0.5 meter Gregorian
optical telescope
An optical telescope is a telescope that gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct visual inspection, to make a photograph, or to collect data through electro ...
with an
angular resolution
Angular resolution describes the ability of any image-forming device such as an optical or radio telescope, a microscope, a camera, or an eye, to distinguish small details of an object, thereby making it a major determinant of image resolution. ...
of about 0.2
arcsecond
A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The na ...
over the
field of view
The field of view (FoV) is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. In the case of optical instruments or sensors it is a solid angle through which a detector is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation.
Humans a ...
of about 400 x 400 arcsec. At the SOT
focal plane
In Gaussian optics, the cardinal points consist of three pairs of points located on the optical axis of a rotationally symmetric, focal, optical system. These are the '' focal points'', the principal points, and the nodal points. For ''ideal'' ...
, the Focal Plane Package (FPP) built by the
Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory
The Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL) is part of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (ATC) that is known primarily for its scientific work in the field of solar physics, astronomy and space weather. The LMSAL te ...
in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
consists of three optical instruments: the Broadband Filter Imager (BFI) which produces images of the solar photosphere and chromosphere in six wide-band interference filters; the Narrowband Filter Imager (NFI) which is a tunable Lyot-type birefringent filter capable of producing
magnetogram
Magnetogram may refer to:
* Solar magnetogram
In solar observation, a magnetogram is a pictorial representation of the spatial variations in strength of the solar magnetic field.
Solar magnetograms are produced by solar magnetographs. Some magne ...
and
dopplergram
A dopplergraph or dopplergram is a two-dimensional representation of the approaching and receding motions of an object or area.
The word "dopplergraph" is a combination of the words doppler and photograph. Dopplergraphs are two-dimensional records ...
images of the solar surface; and the Spectropolarimeter (SP) which produces the most sensitive
vector magnetograph
A vector magnetograph is a type of imaging telescope that can estimate the 3-D vector of the magnetic field on a distant body with a resolved line spectrum. Magnetographs are useful for studying the Sun because the surface magnetic field is im ...
maps of the photosphere to date.
The FPP also includes a Correlation Tracker (CT) which locks onto
solar granulation
Solar may refer to:
Astronomy
* Of or relating to the Sun
** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun
** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels")
** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...
to stabilize the SOT images to a fraction of an
arcsecond
A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The na ...
. The spatial resolution of the SOT is a factor of 5 improvement over previous space-based solar telescopes (e.g., the MDI instrument on the
SOHO
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
).
XRT (X-ray Telescope)
A modified Wolter I telescope design that uses grazing incidence optics to image the
solar corona
A corona ( coronas or coronae) is the outermost layer of a star's atmosphere. It consists of plasma.
The Sun's corona lies above the chromosphere and extends millions of kilometres into outer space. It is most easily seen during a total solar e ...
's hottest components (0.5 to 10 Million K) with an angular resolution consistent with 1 arcsec pixels at the CCD. The telescope has an imaging field of view of 34 arcminutes. It is capable of capturing an image of the full sun when pointed at the center of the solar disk. The telescope was designed and built by
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), which, with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). The camera was developed by
NAOJ and
JAXA
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
.
EIS (Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer)
A normal incidence extreme ultraviolet (EUV)
spectrometer
A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the ...
that obtains spatially resolved spectra in two wavelength bands: 17.0–21.2 and 24.6–29.2 nm.
Spatial resolution is around 2 arcsec, and the field of view is up to 560 x 512 arcsec
2. The emission lines in the EIS wavelength bands are emitted at temperatures ranging from 50,000 K to 20 million K. EIS is used to identify the physical processes involved in heating the
solar corona
A corona ( coronas or coronae) is the outermost layer of a star's atmosphere. It consists of plasma.
The Sun's corona lies above the chromosphere and extends millions of kilometres into outer space. It is most easily seen during a total solar e ...
.
See also
*
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
a balloon-borne solar telescope
References
External links
NASA Mission Site for HinodeJAXA overview of mission*Mission overvie
preparation for launc
launc
(in Japanese)
Solar-B Mission Profile
b
NASA's Solar System Exploration
Solar-B project page
of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Solar-B project page
of Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory
Solar-B project page
of Mullard Space Science Laboratory
The UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) is the United Kingdom's largest university space research group. MSSL is part of the Department of Space and Climate Physics at University College London (UCL), one of the first universities in the ...
Solar-B project page
of PPARC
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was one of a number of research councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK. Its head office wa ...
Solar-B project page
of NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
MSFC
HINODE (SOLAR-B) SOT-FPP Education/Public Outreach
at Chabot Space and Science Center
Chabot Space and Science Center, located in Oakland, California, is a center for science learning featuring interactive exhibits, planetariums, a large screen theater, hands-on activities and three powerful telescopes.
The center is the continu ...
*
{{Space observatories
Satellites orbiting Earth
Missions to the Sun
Space telescopes
X-ray telescopes
Satellites of Japan
Solar telescopes
Spacecraft launched in 2006