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Hinode's High-resolution vie
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| Title |
Hinode's High-resolution view of solar granulation |
| Abstract |
This zoom-in from a full view of the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) (the same as in animation 3411) shows details of solar granulation and how rapidly it changes. |
| Completed |
2007-03-16 |
|
Hinode's High-resolution vie
…
| Title |
Hinode's High-resolution view of solar granulation |
| Abstract |
This zoom-in from a full view of the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) (the same as in animation 3411) shows details of solar granulation and how rapidly it changes. |
| Completed |
2007-03-16 |
|
Hinode's High-resolution vie
…
| Title |
Hinode's High-resolution view of solar granulation |
| Abstract |
This zoom-in from a full view of the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) (the same as in animation 3411) shows details of solar granulation and how rapidly it changes. |
| Completed |
2007-03-16 |
|
3D Mercury Transit
| Title |
3D Mercury Transit |
| Explanation |
Mercury is now [ http://www.astronomy.com/ASY/CS/forums/314872/ ShowPost.aspx ] visible shortly before dawn, the brightest "star" just above the eastern horizon. But almost two weeks ago Mercury [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061114.html ] actually crossed the face of the Sun for the second time in the 21st century. Viewed with red/blue glasses [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html ], this stereo anaglyph combines space-based images of the Sun and innermost planet in a just-for-fun 3D [ http://www.sungazer.net/3dtransit.html ] presentation of the Mercury transit [ http://www.transitofvenus.org/mercury.htm ]. The solar disk image is from Hinode [ http://solarb.msfc.nasa.gov/index.html ]. (sounds like "hee-no-day", means sunrise). A sun-staring observatory, Hinode was launched from Uchinoura Space Center and viewed the transit [ http://solar-b.nao.ac.jp/news_e/20061109_e.shtml ] from Earth orbit. Superimposed on Mercury's dark silhouette is a detailed image [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011124.html ] of the planet's rugged surface based on data from the Mariner 10 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1973-085A.html ] probe that flew by Mercury in 1974 and 1975. |
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Movie: The Active Sun
| Title |
Movie: The Active Sun |
| Explanation |
Plumes of hot gas shoot across the surface on even an average day on the Sun. Such volatile activity was captured in dramatic detail recently by the new Hinode [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinode ] satellite launched by Japan [ https://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html ] in late September. Near the horizon, active regions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060611.html ] around a sunspot [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051106.html ] eject hot plasma [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_%28physics%29 ] along the magnetic field [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/whmfield.html ] lines that connect the sunspot to surrounding regions in the solar atmosphere [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050216.html ]. Bright regions are hotter and more active. The bubbling granularity [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/sun/granulation.html ] and continuous activity of the Sun's photosphere [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/sun/photosphere.html ] is visible in the foreground. This frame from the movie [ http://hinode.nao.ac.jp/news_e/20061127_press_e/ ] is in representative color and covers a solar region [ http://hinode.nao.ac.jp/news_e/20061127_press_e/sot_press_en.pdf ] of about 8,000 kilometers. ("Note: To download the full MPG movie file, click on the picture.") |
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An Active Sunspot Viewed Sid
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| Title |
An Active Sunspot Viewed Sideways |
| Explanation |
Why are there dark spots on the sun? Although noted for thousands of years, sunspots [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunspot ] have been known for decades to be regions of the Sun that are slightly depressed and cooled by the Sun's complex and changing magnetic field [ http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Spotlight/Magnetic/what.html ]. High resolution pictures like the above image [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/solar-b/solar_018.html ] from Japan's new Sun-watching Hinode satellite [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinode ], however, are helping to increase modern understanding. In the center of the above image [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/solar-b/solar_018.html ] is a sunspot, but not seen in the usual orientation --this sunspot [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/sunspots/ ] is seen sideways. Of particular interest is erupting glowing gas [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060611.html ] that shows how the Sun's magnetic field comes right out of the spot [ http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/feature1.shtml ] center, but curves markedly around the spot edges. Better understanding [ http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/mar/HQ_07072_Hinode_Images_of_Sun.html ] of how the Sun ejects particles into space may result in more accurate predictions of solar storms that affect [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/stereo_astronauts.html ] satellites, astronauts, and even power grids on Earth. |
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A Jet from the Sun
| Title |
A Jet from the Sun |
| Explanation |
What powers the solar wind? Our Sun [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun ] is known to emit a powerful wind [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000318.html ] of particles with gusts that can even affect astronauts and satellites [ http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7142 ] orbiting Earth. The cause of the solar wind [ http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/SolarWind.shtml ] has been debated for decades but is thought to be rooted in Alfvén waves [ http://plasmadictionary.llnl.gov/terms.lasso?-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=11&-SortField=Term&-SortOrder=ascending&ABC=A&page=detail ] generated by the ever changing magnetic field [ http://solar.physics.montana.edu/ypop/Spotlight/Magnetic/what.html ] of the Sun. Newly released images [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/solar-b/index.html ] from the Japanese Hinode satellite [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinode ] appear to bolster this hypothesis, imaging an average of 240 daily plasma jets [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990731.html ] that are excellent candidates to fuel the outwardly moving Alfvén [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannes_Alfv%C3%A9n ] waves. The jets and waves are themselves ultimately created by magnetic reconnection [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_reconnection ] events, rapid events where lines of constant magnetic field [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0DFDfQajw ] suddenly move extremely rapidly, dragging electrons [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/whelect.html ] and proton [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton ]s along with them. On the image [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/solar-b/photosH07-264.html ] left, one such jet is visible in X-ray [ http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/xrays.html ] light. Bright spots show relatively energetic regions elsewhere on the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070206.html ]. |
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