What is the Solar Observing Satellite “Hinode”?

The Solar Observing Satellite “Hinode” was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center (USC) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on September 23, 2006. Hinode can observe the Sun in three different wavelength ranges: visible light, extreme-ultraviolet, and soft X-rays. It can simultaneously observe the atmospheric structure, which is composed of the photosphere of 5,800 kelvins and the hot outer atmosphere up to the corona of 1,000,000 kelvins, at high resolution. Like the highly successful “Yohkoh”, “Hinode” was developed through international collaboration among Japan, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, with European countries also participating in its operation. In the Hinode program, Japan made the satellite bus system, the main body of the optical telescope, and the X-ray telescope camera. Hinode has made various achievements for more than 15 years since its launch and it is still actively functioning.