NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope on Jan. 12, 2007, this image of the sun reveals the filamentary nature of the plasma connecting regions of different magnetic polarity. Hinode captures these very dynamic pictures of the chromosphere. The chromosphere is a thin "layer" of solar atmosphere "sandwiched" between the visible surface, photosphere, and corona. (Hinode JAXA/NASA) + View large image

Taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope on Nov. 20, 2006, this image reveals the structure of the solar magnetic field rising vertically from a sunspot, an area of strong magnetic field, outward into the solar atmosphere. At the edges of the sunspot the field lines bend over to reconnect with field of opposite polarity. (Hinode JAXA/NASA) + View large image

Taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope on Nov. 11, 2006, this image reveals the fine scale structure in the chromosphere that extends outward above the top of the convection cells, or granulation, of the photosphere. The structure results from the interaction of hot ionized gas with the magnetic field. (Hinode JAXA/NASA) + View large image

The sun and its atmosphere consist of several zones or layers. From the inside out, the solar interior consists of the core, the radiative zone, and the convection zone. The solar atmosphere is made up of the photosphere, the chromosphere, a transition region, and the corona. Beyond the corona is the solar wind, which is actually an outward flow of coronal gas. Because astronomers cannot see inside the sun, they have learned about the solar interior indirectly. Part of their knowledge is based on the observed properties of the sun as a whole. Some of it is based on calculations that produce phenomena in the observable zones. (NASA) + View large image







Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) provides crystal-clear images of features on the sun's surface. This video shows a whirl of a new developing sunspot colliding with an existing spot that explodes into a major solar flare. The solar flare shown in this movie was captured on December 13, 2006. The flare produced high-energy protons that reached the Earth at the time of STS-116 Space Shuttle flight. The flare is shown in 3 different wavelengths. (Hinode JAXA/NASA)

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For more information, contact:
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034