Since the transition to stable operations under the S-band antenna, typical OP Period durations have been two or three days.
Once solar activity begins to increase, and solar unpredictability increases accordingly, Hinode may consider more frequent (i.e., shorter) OP Periods.
The duration of night-time is calculated for the visible band, and in the peak of eclipse season (around mid-July [3]) this duration is about 20 minutes. EUV absorption begins about 10 minutes before the calculated entry into optical night (NGT_ENTRY) and ends about 10 minutes after exit (NGT_EXIT). Thus, the EIS operations team recommend that you leave a ten-minute buffer around s/c night in eclipse season.
Go over to the Study4LowDataVolume page on this Wiki for examples of programmes recently developed for EIS.
[2]: Remember, Mb stands for megabits (1024 × 1024 bits), as distinct from MB (for megabytes). 1 MB = 8Mb.
[3]: Is this correct? I know it's approximately true, since we start in late April, and come out of eclipse season in early September.