Hinode (Solar-B) and its scientific instruments

Hinode (Solar-B) is a sun-pointing spacecraft that weighs 900 kilos. It carries three scientific instruments: a Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the first large optical telescope flown in space dedicated to observing the Sun; an X-ray Telescope (XRT), to provide coronal images at different temperatures; and a EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS), an optical telescope designed to measure the flows of hot gas down to a level of 1 kilometre per second.