Hinode (Solar-B) Stories
NASA’s NuSTAR Telescope Reveals Hidden Light Shows on the Sun
Some of the hottest spots in the Sun’s atmosphere appear in the telescope’s X-ray view. Even on a sunny day, human eyes can’t see all the light our nearest star gives off. A new image displays some of this hidden…
Hinode Sees Annular Solar Eclipse from Orbit
On Oct. 25, the Hinode satellite used its X-ray Telescope to capture three passages of the Moon eclipsing the Sun. While Hinode was able to observe an annular eclipse from orbit, only a partial solar eclipse was visible from the…
In First, Scientists Trace Fastest Solar Particles to Their Roots on the Sun
Zipping through space at close to the speed of light, Solar Energetic Particles, or SEPs, are one of the main challenges for the future of human spaceflight. Clouds of these tiny solar projectiles can make it to Earth – a…
Observations Around Solar System With Parker Solar Probe’s 7th Solar Encounter
During Parker Solar Probe’s seventh swing by the Sun, culminating in its closest solar approach, or perihelion, on Jan. 17, 2021, celestial geometry posed a special opportunity. The configuration of this particular orbit placed Parker Solar Probe on the same…
A New Look at Sunspots is Helping NASA Scientists Understand Major Flares and Life Around Other Stars
NASA’s extensive fleet of spacecraft allows scientists to study the Sun extremely close-up – one of the agency’s spacecraft is even on its way to fly through the Sun’s outer atmosphere. But sometimes taking a step back can provide new…
NASA Sounding Rocket Instrument Spots Signatures of Long-Sought Small Solar Flares
Like most solar sounding rockets, the second flight of the FOXSI instrument – short for Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager – lasted 15 minutes, with just six minutes of data collection. But in that short time, the cutting-edge instrument found…
Hinode Satellite Captures Powerful Aug. 21 Eclipse Images, Video
As millions of Americans watched the total solar eclipse that crossed the continental United States on Aug. 21, the international Hinode solar observation satellite captured its own images of the awe-inspiring natural phenomenon as it orbited the planet. Researchers adapted…
Studying the Sun’s Atmosphere with the Total Solar Eclipse of 2017
A total solar eclipse happens somewhere on Earth about once every 18 months. But because Earth’s surface is mostly ocean, most eclipses are visible over land for only a short time, if at all. The total solar eclipse of Aug.…
NASA Watches the Sun Put a Stop to Its Own Eruption
On Sept. 30, 2014, multiple NASA observatories watched what appeared to be the beginnings of a solar eruption. A filament — a serpentine structure consisting of dense solar material and often associated with solar eruptions — rose from the surface,…
Scientists Propose Mechanism to Describe Solar Eruptions of All Sizes
From long, tapered jets to massive explosions of solar material and energy, eruptions on the sun come in many shapes and sizes. Since they erupt at such vastly different scales, jets and the massive clouds — called coronal mass ejections,…