The Solar-B satellite was launched in the morning of 23 September 2006 (06:36 Japan time) by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), and was renamed to Hinode (‘sunrise’ in Japanese). Hinode carries three - struments; the X-ray telescope (XRT), the EUV imaging spectrometer (EIS), and the solar optical telescope (SOT). These instruments were developed by ISAS/JAXA in cooperation with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan as domestic partner, and NASA and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (UK) as international partners. ESA and N- wegian Space Center have been providing a downlink station. All the data taken with Hinode are open to everyone since May 2007. This volume combines the ?rst set of instrumental papers of the Hinode mission (the mission overview, EIS, XRT, and the database system) published in volume 243, Number 1 (June 2007), and the second set of papers (four papers on SOT and one paper on XRT) published in Volume 249, Number 2 (June 2008). Another SOT paper cited as Tarbell et al. (2008) in these papers will appear later in Solar Physics.

This book provides the latest scientific understanding of the Sun, sharing insights gleaned from the international solar physics project Hinode. The authors (who are the main project contributors) review, from the various viewpoints, the discoveries and advances made by the on-orbit operations of the Hinode spacecraft in its first decade. Further, they present a wealth of scientifically important photographs and data from Hinode. Launched in September 2006, Hinode is the third Japanese solar observatory on orbit, and employs three highly advanced telescopes jointly developed and operated with international partners. The book describes the background of these research topics, how the Hinode telescopes have tackled various challenges, and the scientific achievements and impacts in the first 10 years. Furthermore, it explores future perspective of researches in Japan. The book will benefit undergraduate students interested in recent advance in the solar research, as well as graduate students and researchers working in solar physics, the space sciences, astronomy, and plasma physics.

Powerful solar explosions, such as flares and coronal mass ejections, greatly disturb the electromagnetic environment around the Earth and the atmosphere. They may even impact various social systems—communications, positioning, electric power supply, aviation and activities in space. Such variations in the space environment, which can influence human activities, are called “space weather.” The space weather disaster caused by a solar explosion is a potential risk in modern society. To reduce and mitigate space weather impacts, it is essential to understand the structure and dynamics of the solar–terrestrial environment and to predict the variations. This book comprehensively describes space weather, from the basics of related sciences to the possible social impacts. It was compiled based on a national research project on solar–terrestrial environment prediction conducted in Japan recently. It consists of four parts: the linkage between space weather and society; the magnetosphere of the Earth and space weather prediction; solar storms and space weather prediction; and long-term prediction of solar cycle activity and climate impacts. Each chapter covers the basics and applications of each area, which helps readers gain a broad understanding of the subject matter throughout the book. In addition, readers are able to select and read the topics they are most interested in. It is especially valuable for undergraduate and graduate students and young researchers studying space weather and related topics, and is further helpful for experts in various industries related to space weather disasters. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). The present version has been revised technically and linguistically by the authors in collaboration with a professional translator.

This book presents a pedagogical, updated and modern view of the Sun from its interior to its exterior as well as the SunOCoEarth system. Written by eminent scientists in solar physics, the chapters deal with recent advances in solar physics, seismic Sun, solar magnetic field, waves and oscillations, spectroscopic diagnostics of solar plasmas, partially ionized lower atmosphere, coronal heating, coronal mass ejections, radio Sun, solar wind, and the SunOCoEarth system. Each chapter is fully illustrated and has a comprehensive reference list. The book covers all major topics in solar physics, and presents a rich menu to motivate graduate students who wish to pursue a solar physics research career.