National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Hinode (Solar-B) First One Month

| Science

Hinode First One Month

Hinode (Solar-B) project team released several images and movies of "microscopic" observations of the sun taken by Solar Optical Telescope (SOT). Hinode's SOT is the first spcae-borne instrument to measure the strength and direction of the sun's magnetic field in the photosphere. The project team reported that the obtained data proves that SOT achieves the diffraction limit resolution of 0.2 arcsec at the wavelength of 430 nm, the highest resolution in the past. Thanks to its high spacial resolution, low stray-light and distortion-free observations, SOT captured dynamic phenomena such as the heating around sun spots, active region near the limb of the sun, and so on.

Link

More info: Hinode web page