JAXA/NASA Observe the Sun

These images were captured by the X-ray Telescope, or XRT, aboard the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's and NASA’s Hinode spacecraft. XRT watches the Sun in X-rays, a high-energy type of light that reveals the extremely hot material in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona. These images from XRT were captured on Jan. 17, 2021, when Parker Solar Probe was closest to the Sun during its seventh orbit. Scientists can use XRT’s images with Parker Solar Probe’s direct measurements of the environment around the Sun to better understand how the Sun’s corona could drive changes in the space environment farther away from the Sun.

Credit: JAXA AND NASA