Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Solar Optical Telescope for the Hinode Mission: An Overview

  • Published:
Solar Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite (formerly called Solar-B) consists of the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and the Focal Plane Package (FPP). The OTA is a 50-cm diffraction-limited Gregorian telescope, and the FPP includes the narrowband filtergraph (NFI) and the broadband filtergraph (BFI), plus the Stokes Spectro-Polarimeter (SP). The SOT provides unprecedented high-resolution photometric and vector magnetic images of the photosphere and chromosphere with a very stable point spread function and is equipped with an image-stabilization system with performance better than 0.01 arcsec rms. Together with the other two instruments on Hinode (the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS)), the SOT is poised to address many fundamental questions about solar magnetohydrodynamics. This paper provides an overview; the details of the instrument are presented in a series of companion papers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbett, W.P.: 2006, Astrophys. J. 665, 1469.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Bello Gonzalez, N., Okunev, O.V., Domínguez Cerdeña, I., Kneer, F., Puschmann, K.G.: 2005, Astron. Astrophys. 434, 317.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, T.E., Rouppe van der Voort, L.H.M., Löfdahl, M.G., Carlsson, M., Fossum, A., Hansteen, V.H., Marthinussen, E., Title, A., Scharmer, G.: 2004, Astron. Astrophys. 428, 613.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson, M., Stein, R.F.: 2004, In: Sakurai, T., Sekii, T. (eds.) The Solar-B Mission and the Forefront of Solar Physics, ASP Conf. Ser. 325, 243.

  • Cattaneo, F.: 1999, Astrophys. J. 515, 39.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, M.C., Schüssler, M., Moreno Insertis, F.: 2007, Astron. Astrophys. 467, 703.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Culhane, J.L., Harra, L.K., James, A.M., Al-Janabi, K., Bradley, L.J., Chaudry, R.A., et al.: 2007, Solar Phys. 243, 19.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • De Pontieu, B.: 2004, Nature 430, 536.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferriz-Mas, A., Steiner, O.: 2008, Solar Phys. in press.

  • Fisher, G.H., Fan, Y., Longcope, D.W., Linton, M.G., Pevtsov, A.A.: 2000, Solar Phys. 192, 119.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Gudiksen, B.V., Nordlund, A.: 2005, Astrophys. J. 618, 1020.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Golub, L., DeLuca, E., Austin, G., Bookbinder, J., Caldwell, D., Cheimets, P., et al.: 2007, Solar Phys. 243, 63.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Handy, B.N., Acton, L.W., Kankelborg, C.C., Wolfson, C.J., Akin, D.J., Bruner, M.E., et al.: 1999, Solar Phys. 187, 229.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hansteen, V.H., De Pontieu, B., Rouppe van der Voort, L., van Noort, M., Carlsson, M.: 2006, Astrophys. J. 647, L73.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey-Angle, K.L.: 1993, Magnetic bipoles on the Sun. Ph.D. Thesis, Utrecht University.

  • Ichimoto, K., Lites, B., Elmore, D., Suematsu, Y., Tsunete, S., Katsukawa, Y., et al.: 2008, Solar Phys., in press.

  • Kano, R., Sakao, T., Hara, H., Tsuneta, S., Matsuzaki, K., Kumagai, K., et al.: 2007, Solar Phys., in press.

  • Katsukawa, Y., Tsuneta, S.: 2005, Astrophys. J. 621, 498.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Khomenko, E.V., Shelyag, S., Solanki, S.K., Vögler, A.: 2005, Astron. Astrophys. 442, 1059.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kosovichev, A.: 2004, In: Sakurai, T., Sekii, T. (eds.) The Solar-B Mission and the Forefront of Solar Physics, ASP Conf. Ser. 325, 75.

  • Kosugi, T., Matsuzaki, K., Sakao, T., Shimizu, T., Sone, Y., Tachikawa, S., et al.: 2007, Solar Phys. 243, 3.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Leighton, R.B.: 1964, Astrophys. J. 140, 1547.

    Article  MATH  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Leka, K.D., Metcalf, T.R.: 2003, Solar Phys. 212, 361.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lites, B.W.: 1996, Solar Phys. 163, 223.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lites, B.W., Leka, K.D., Skumanich, A., Martinez Pillet, V., Shimizu, T.: 1996, Astrophys. J. 460, 1019.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalf, T.R., Jiao, L., McClymont, A.N., Canfield, R.C., Uitenbroek, H.: 1995, Astrophys. J. 439, 474.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, E.N.: 1978, Astrophys. J. 221, 368.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, E.N.: 1988, Astrophys. J. 330, 474.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Sekii, T.: 2004, In: Sakurai, T., Sekii, T. (eds.) The Solar-B Mission and the Forefront of Solar Physics, ASP Conf. Ser. 325, 87.

  • Shimizu, T., Nagata, S., Tsuneta, S., Tarbell, T., Edwards, C., Shine, R., et al.: 2008, Solar Phys., in press.

  • Scharmer, G.B., Gudiksen, B.V., Kiselman, D., Löfdahl, M.G., Rouppe van der Voort, L.H.M.: 2002, Nature 420, 151.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Skartlien, R., Stein, R.F., Nordlund, A.: 2000, Astrophys. J. 541, 468.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Solanki, S.K.: 2003, Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 11, 153.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Solanki, S.K., Inhester, B., Schüssler, M.: 2006, Pep. Prog. Phys. 69, 563.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Sterling, A.C.: 2000, Solar Phys. 196, 79.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Suematsu, Y., Tsuneta, S., Ichimoto, K., Shimizu, T., Otsubo, M., Katsukawa, Y., et al.: 2008, Solar Phys., in press.

  • Tarbell, T.D., et al.: 2008, Solar Phys., to be submitted.

  • Title, A.M.: 2007, In: Shibata, K., Nagara, S., Sakurai, T. (eds.) New Solar Physics with Solar-B Mission, ASP Conf. Ser. 369, 409.

  • Tsuneta, S.: 1996, In: Bentley, R.D., Mariska, J.T. (eds.) Magnetic Reconnection in the Solar Atmosphere, ASP Conf. Ser. 111, 409.

  • Ulmschneider, P., Musielak, Z.: 2003, In: Pevtsov, A.A., Uitenbroek, H. (eds.) Current Theoretical Models and Future High Resolution Solar Observations: Preparing ATST, ASP Conf. Ser. 286, 363.

  • Ulrich, R.K.: 1996, Astrophys. J. 465, 436.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, R.W., Ireland, J.: 2003, Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 12, 1.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Welsch, B.T., Abbett, W.P., DeRosa, M.L., Fisher, G.H., Georgoulis, M.K., Kusano, K., Longcope, D.W., Ravindra, B., Schuck, P.W.: 2007, Astrophys. J., submitted.

  • Weiss, N.O.: 2006, Space Sci. Rev. 124, 13.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Withbroe, G.L., Noyes, R.W.: 1977, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 15, 363.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshida, T., Tsuneta, S.: 1996, Astrophys. J. 459, 342.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. S. Nagata

    Present address: Kwasan and Hida Observatories, Kyoto University, Yamashina, Kyoto, 607-8471, Japan

  2. T. Shimizu

    Present address: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588, Japan

    S. Tsuneta, K. Ichimoto, Y. Katsukawa, S. Nagata, M. Otsubo, T. Shimizu, Y. Suematsu, M. Nakagiri & M. Noguchi

  2. Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, B/252, 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    T. Tarbell, A. Title, R. Shine, W. Rosenberg, C. Hoffmann, B. Jurcevich, G. Kushner & M. Levay

  3. High Altitude Observatory, NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO, 80307-3000, USA

    B. Lites & D. Elmore

  4. Communication Systems Center, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Amagasaki, Hyogo, 661-8661, Japan

    T. Matsushita, N. Kawaguchi, H. Saito & I. Mikami

  5. Space Science Office, VP62, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, 35812, USA

    L. D. Hill & J. K. Owens

Authors
  1. S. Tsuneta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K. Ichimoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Y. Katsukawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Nagata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. Otsubo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. T. Shimizu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Y. Suematsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. M. Nakagiri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. M. Noguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. T. Tarbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. A. Title
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. R. Shine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. W. Rosenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. C. Hoffmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. B. Jurcevich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. G. Kushner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. M. Levay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. B. Lites
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. D. Elmore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. T. Matsushita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. N. Kawaguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  22. H. Saito
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  23. I. Mikami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  24. L. D. Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  25. J. K. Owens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Tsuneta.

Additional information

M. Otsubo is a former NAOJ staff scientist.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tsuneta, S., Ichimoto, K., Katsukawa, Y. et al. The Solar Optical Telescope for the Hinode Mission: An Overview. Sol Phys 249, 167–196 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-008-9174-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-008-9174-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation