Solar-B satellites send the first images to the Sun.

The September 22 Solar-B satellite from Japan collected the first images of the Sun to test and adjust the three carrying tools. The first images of the SOT optical telescope allow to see with high precision tiny particles covering the entire surface of the Sun.

Granulation is the result of convection: hot matter goes up to the surface, cools, becomes dense and falls. Each tiny particle has an average size of 1,500 km with a life span of about 10 minutes.

According to the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), the resolution of the photos is 0.2 seconds of supply, equivalent to the size of a human hair 10 meters away.

The phenomenon of the Sun's particle formation seen from the SOT telescope (Photo: sciences.nouvelobs.com)

The Solar-B satellite was renamed Hinode by JAXA (Japanese for the rising Sun), with the mission to study the Sun's magnetic field in three-dimensional space, to understand the origin of the Sun's eruption. In addition to SOT, Hinode is also equipped with an X-ray telescope (XRT) that took the first photo on October 25 and an spectrometer (EIS) that was operational on October 28.

Hinode is a coordinated mission between British JAXA, NASA and PPARC. Adjustment of tools will continue this month and satellites will enter the scientific observation phase in early December.

VN