Artist Concept of Solar-B
November 27, 2012
The Solar-B spacecraft will circle Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit for at least three years. This is a polar, rather than equatorial, orbit and will allow the instruments to remain in continuous sunlight for nine months of each year. Collectively, Solar-B's three science instruments -- the Solar Optical Telescope Focal Plane Package, X-ray Telescope and Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer -- will record how energy stored in the sun's magnetic field is released as that field rises into the sun's outer atmosphere.
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/C. Meaney
Topics:
Environment, Technology Internet, Plasma physics, Space, Spaceflight, X-ray astronomy satellites, Coronal loop, Sun, Hinode, Solar telescopes, X-ray telescopes, Space telescopes, Space plasmas
