Hinode looks into a hole on the Sun

Feb 09, 2011
Peering Into a Coronal Hole Enlarge
Image credit: Hinode/XRT

On Feb. 1, 2011, the Hinode satellite captured this breathtaking image of a coronal hole, seen in the top center of the image. A polar coronal hole can also be seen at the bottom of the image.

A coronal hole is an opening in the sun's through which gas can easily escape into space.

The holes are relatively cool in temperature as compared to the active regions nearby -- such as the bright region on the lower left portion of the solar disk -- the cooler temperature is one of the reasons for the darker appearance.

Hinode, a Japanese mission in partnership with , NAOJ, STFC, ESA, and NSC, currently in Earth orbit, is studying the sun to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that power the solar atmosphere and drive solar eruptions.

Explore further: Collisions of coronal mass ejections can be super-elastic

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User comments : 4

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d_robison
not rated yet Feb 09, 2011
I'm not really sure what the point of this article is (not trying to bash anyone). I would think it would be obvious that the super-heated gas in the corona would follow the regular magnetic field lines (having ionized particles following the field to the poles), except for the bizzare twists in the field causing sun spots and ejected material. Am I misunderstanding the idea here or is this really just common sense? I'm not complaining about the data itself, it just seems as though they are surprised about the findings.
neiorah
not rated yet Feb 10, 2011
Much of what is discovered is really common sense stuff.
abhishekbt
not rated yet Feb 10, 2011
The idea for this article is simple. They wanted to post a so called 'breathtaking' image period.

There is no science attached to it.
d_robison
not rated yet Feb 14, 2011
The idea for this article is simple. They wanted to post a so called 'breathtaking' image period.

There is no science attached to it.


Much of what is discovered is really common sense stuff.


I figured as much.

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