'Hinode' A New Solar Observatory in Space

Since its launch in September 2006, Japan-US-UK solar physics satellite, the Hinode, has continued its observation of the sun, sending back solar images of unprecedented clarity every day. The Hinode is equipped with three telescopes, visible light telescope, X-ray telescope, and extreme ultraviolet imaging spectrometer. The optical telescope has a large primary mirror measuring 50 centimeters in diameter, and is the world’s largest space telescope for observing the sun and its vector magnetic fields. The impact of the Hinode optical telescope on solar physics is comparable to that of the Hubble Space Telescope on optical astronomy. While the optical telescope observes the sun’s surface, the X-ray telescope captures images of the corona and the high-temperature flares that range from between several million and several tens of millions of degrees. The telescope has captured coronal structures that are clearer than ever. The EUV imaging spectrometer possesses about ten times the sensitivity and four times the resolution of a similar instrument that is provided on the SOHO satellite.

The source of energy for the sun is in the nuclear fusion reaction that takes place at its core. The temperature drops closer to the surface, where the temperature measures about 6,000 degrees. Mysteriously, the temperature starts rising again above the surface and the temperature of the corona is exceptionally high at several millions of degrees. It is as if water were boiling fiercely in a kettle placed on a fireless stove, inconceivable as it may sound. The phenomenon is referred to as the coronal heating problem, and it is one of the major astronomical mysteries. The Hinode observatory was designed to attack the problem. We expect that there would also be clues to unraveling why strong magnetic fields are formed and how solar flares are triggered.

Overview on the initial results from Hinode are presented. Dynamic video pictures captured by the Hinode can be viewed on the website of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), http://hinode.nao.ac.jp/index_e.shtml.

Fecha: 
18/09/2008 - 14:00
Conferenciante: 
Dr. Saku Tsuneta
Filiación: 
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan


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