The transit of Venus as seen from space by Hinode/SOT

The five images on this page show the beginning of the transit of Venus across the Sun, as seen from space by the Japanese satellite Hinode. Images were captured with the SOT instrument during five minutes, between 22:26 and 22:31 UTC on Tuesday, June 5, 2012. SOT (Solar Optical Telescope) is a 0.5 meter Gregorian optical telescope with an angular resolution of about 0.2 arcsec over the field of view of about 400 × 400 arc seconds.

Credit: JAXA/ISAS

The shadow of the Moon

At around 7:34 a.m. on May 21 (Mon.), an annular solar eclipse was observed from many places in Japan including metropolitan areas. At that time, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite-1 “MICHIBIKI” shot images of the Earth from space. You can see that the area above Japan was blackened because it was shaded by the moon due to the eclipse. In addition to the MICHIBIKI, the Solar Physics Satellite “HINODE” also captured some images of the solar eclipse.

Shadow of the Moon on Earth caused by the solar eclipse. Credit: JAXA

Source:

• Quasi-Zenith Satellite-1 "MICHIBIKI", JAXA, May 21, 2012

Hinode records the Moon transiting the Sun on May 20

Spectacular images from the Hinode spacecraft show the solar eclipse, which darkened the sky in parts of the Western United States and Southeast Asia on May 20, 2012.

The solar eclipse of May 20, observed by Japanese satellite Hinode through its X-ray telescope. Credit: JAXA / Hinode