NASA has just completed the design phase, and we'll soon begin building the instruments that will help us understand the star closest to home. This is a polar rather than an equatorial orbit and allows the instruments to stay in continuous sunlight for nine months out of the year. The instruments will work together to show how changes in magnetic fields deep inside the Sun erupt through the different layers of the Sun's atmosphere, creating the violent disturbances that sometimes affect us on Earth. The root of the Sun's violent behavior can be found within its magnetic field - generated deep in the star's interior. It rises to the surface where it is often visible as sunspots, which are large concentrations of magnetic flux.
Energy is stored in the magnetic field.
According to a recent press release, Energy can be released as the field rises into and through the solar atmosphere, either gradually or explosively. The former release can heat the outer atmosphere to temperatures in excess of a million degrees. Solar-B's mission will be to observe the distribution of the magnetic field at the photosphere where it first becomes visible as well as studying how it releases its energy to the surrounding atmosphere. Sunspot observations from 400 years ago indicate a long period in which sunspots were extremely rare, and the sunspot cycle even disappeared. Solar scientists have found clues suggesting that extremely small magnetic features in the solar photosphere are the reason for the changes in the luminosity.