A Japan-US international research team led by Dr. Kyoko Watanabe, a JAXA aerospace project research associate, identified the origin of the white light emission in solar flares, by quantitatively analyzing an X-class solar flare, which was successively observed by two solar observing satellites: JAXA launched “Hinode” and NASA's RHESSI. The origin of the white light emission has not yet been clarified since its first discovery about 150 years ago. This finding is published in the May 20, 2010 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

Link

More info: Hinode web page