On September 23, Solar-B, the third solar physics satellite of ISAS, Institute of space and astronautical science of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will be launched in Japan.
SOLAR-B has been approved as a successor of YOHKOH (SOLAR-A). By observing simultaneously the visible surface of the Sun (photosphere) and the solar corona, SOLAR-B intends to understand the origin and consequences of various active phenomena which take place in the corona. The combination of vector magnetograms, atmospheric images and UV/EUV spectra should provide the measurements needed to answer many of these outstanding questions concerning the initiation of flares and CMEs.
In order to realize long-term uninterrupted observations of the Sun, SOLAR-B is designed to take the sun-synchronous polar orbit. From this orbit, the satellite will be able to observe the Sun continuously for 8 months a year.
From its polar sun-synchronous orbit around the Earth, SOLAR-B will observe the active regions of the Sun with a high imaging resolution.
