New, peer-reviewed results from the Hinode space mission (“Sunrise” in English) should help explain some long-standing mysteries of the Sun, such as the huge temperature difference between its relatively cool surface and its white-hot atmosphere, and the origins of the solar wind that blasts through the solar system and buffets planetary atmospheres.

These results appear in a special collection of 10 articles, by scientists in Japan, Europe and the United States, in the 7 December issue of the journal Science. Science is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

Many of Hinode’s key goals involve understanding the basic physics that operate on the Sun, providing Earth with the heat and energy to sustain life.

The discoveries may also have a practical edge, since eruptions of magnetic energy from the Sun are responsible for “space weather” events that can threaten telecommunications, navigation systems and electric power grids on Earth. A better understanding of these eruptions and of the solar wind, the huge volume of ionized material that the Sun spews into interplanetary space, may help people predict or plan for space weather events.

“Some of the first known scientific observations were of the Sun, but many of the processes that take place on our nearest star remain a mystery,” said Brook Hanson, Science’s Deputy Editor, Physical Sciences.

“The papers in this special issue present some of the first peer-reviewed results from Hinode, and though there is still much to learn, the findings show that the mission is well on its way toward providing a new view of the Sun.”

The Hinode spacecraft was launched in September 2006 and has been orbiting Earth along a path that keeps it constantly in view of the Sun. The mission is led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with collaboration from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in the United Kingdom, and the European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft has spectrometers that can view the Sun in optical, x-ray, and extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. These devices have allowed researchers to capture images and video, with particularly high resolution in time and space, showing structures and magnetic fields within the Sun’s high-energy plasma.

One of the key results reported in the special Science issue is the discovery of a type of magnetic wave, known as an Alfven wave, which ripples through the plasma of the Sun’s atmosphere, or “corona.” Swedish physicist Hannes Alfven predicted these waves theoretically, which won him a Nobel Prize, but they have not been detected definitively until now.

Several research teams report evidence of Alfven waves, which could potentially heat the corona to extreme temperatures by releasing energy as they travel outward from the Sun along magnetic field lines. These findings may help solve the so-called “corona problem,” which refers to the fact that the sun’s surface, the photosphere, is only about 6,000 Kelvin, while the corona is at least 1 million Kelvin.

The Alfven wave discoveries appear in articles by Jonathan Cirtain and colleagues, Takenori J. Okamoto and colleagues, and Bart De Pontieu and colleagues. De Pontieu’s team also shows that the energy associated with the waves is sufficient to heat the corona and accelerate the solar wind. Another possible method for heating the corona is the release of energy that occurs when magnetic field lines cross and reconnect. Reconnection events are also primarily responsible for the violent explosions known as solar flares. Hinode observed a variety of high-speed jets of material that were ejected from these reconnection sites.

Studying the Hinode data, Kazunari Shibata and colleagues report a higher-than-expected number of “anemone” jets (shaped like an upside-down Y) in active sunspot regions, which are relatively cool areas with intense magnetic activity. Yukio Katsukawa and colleagues also detected many small-scale, short-lived jets associated with sunspots, while De Pontieu’s group found jets throughout the chromosphere. Cirtain and colleagues also identified much larger jets, up to 20,000 kilometers wide and 100,000 kilometers long. These jets may also contribute to the solar wind.

Another possible source of the solar wind has been detected by Taro Sakao and colleagues, who identified a region where x-ray-emitting plasma is continuously flowing into the upper corona. They estimated the temperature and density for the outflowing plasma and report that it could be supplying the solar wind with up to one-fourth of its mass.

A Perspective article by Robertus Erdelyi and V. Ferdun discusses these findings and others in the special Science issue, concluding that Hinode has “opened new avenues for solar observation and theory.”

The titles of the Science articles are listed below. The articles will be available to subscribers at www.sciencemag.org on 7 December.

  • “Are There Alfven Waves in the Solar Atmosphere”” by R. Erdelyi and V. Fedun
  • “Chromospheric Alfvenic Waves Strong Enough to Power the Solar Wind” by B. De Pontieu et al.
  • “Detection of Coronal Alfven Waves in a Solar Prominence with the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope” by T.J. Okamoto et al
  • “Evidence for Alfven Waves in Solar X-ray Jets” by J. Cirtain et al
  • “Fine Thermal Structure of a Coronal Active Region” by F. Reale et al.
  • “Continuous Plasma Outflows from the Edge of a Solar Active Region as a Possible Source of Solar Wind” by T. Sakao et al.
  • “Slipping Magnetic Reconnection in Coronal Loops” by G. Aulanier et al.
  • “Chromospheric Anemone Jets as Evidence of Ubiquitous Reconnection” by K. Shibata et al.
  • “Small-Scale Jetlike Features in Penumbral Chromospheres” by Y. Katsukawa et al.
  • “Twisting Motions of Sunspot Penumbral Filaments” by K. Ichimoto et al.