Hinode's Mission: Questions Answered Go here to see a collection of papers that discuss and answer the questions about the Sun that defined Hinode's mission.

Introduction to Solar Physics -- Part I and Introduction to Solar Physics -- Part II See these slides (pdf format) for an introduction to solar physics as given by Dr. Sami Solanki at the International Max Planck Research School on Physical Processes in the Solar System and Beyond

Solar Magnetic Fields -- Analysis of Stokes Profiles For a short tutorial on the analysis of solar magnetic fields through the study of Stokes profiles, peruse these pages.

Space Weather Journal - This is a new research journal supported by the American Geophysical Union, published quarterly, it contains dozens of articles by professional space weather researchers.

OSSE Flare Catalog - Solar flare observations by the NASA Gamma Ray Observatory from June 1991 to May 2000.

Solar Research - An extensive list of observatories, satellites, institutions and groups involved in solar research.

Solar Flare Radiation and Manned Space Flight - Rand Corporation book. A summary of present knowledge of solar-flare radiation, one of the major hazards to manned space flight. Areas are listed in which more experimental data are needed to accurately compute the shielding requirements for space vehicles. Some frequently quoted estimates of the weight of adequate shielding have been prohibitively high. However, this memorandum shows that these estimates may be three to six times larger than necessary. It is concluded that appropriately designed experiments in the space research program can help to eliminate the ambiguities in shielding calculations.

A Bayesian Approach to Solar Flare Prediction - An Astrophysical Journal article by M.S. Wheatland. "A number of methods of flare prediction rely on classification of physical characteristics of an active region, in particular optical classification of sunspots, and historical rates of flaring for a given classification. However these methods largely ignore the number of flares the active region has already produced, in particular the number of small events. The past history of occurrence of flares (of all sizes) is an important indicator to future flare production. We present a Bayesian approach to flare prediction, which uses the flaring record of an active region together with phenomenological rules of flare statistics to refine an initial prediction for the occurrence of a big flare during a subsequent period of time. The initial prediction is assumed to come from one of the extant methods of flare prediction. The theory of the method is outlined, and simulations are presented to show how the refinement step of the method works in practice."

Articles in Print:

"The Mysterious Origins of Solar Flares" by Gordon Holman (NASA) in Scientific American, April 2006 - Discusses the current understanding of why solar flares occur.

More resources to follow!