Hinode: A New Solar Observatory in Space

Abstract

The third Japanese solar observing satellite, SOLAR-B, was launched on 2006 Sep 23 from the Uchinoura Space Center of JAXA and it was named “Hinode” (sunrise). Hinode carries three major telescopes: Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). These telescopes have been built in an international collaboration of Japan, US, and UK for understanding the formation mechanism of the solar corona, mechanism of dynamic events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejection, and general magnetic activities on the sun. All telescopes have started their commissioning activities after the successful launch of the spacecraft. The performance of the spacecraft that supports the diffraction-limited SOT observations and the first-light observation of each telescope are briefly introduced.