Telescope captures most detailed Sun images

The Sun’s turbulent surface has been revealed in unprecedented detail by the Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, offering fresh insights into its magnetically active regions

Inouye Solar Telescope
World’s largest solar telescope sits on Haleakalā mountain, Hawaii’s Maui island

Primary mirror: Four metres

DISCOVERY: New high-resolution images reveal tiny swirling patterns, like miniature whirlpools, providing first evidence of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) – process where two layers of solar plasma slide past each other at different speeds, creating ripples

Researchers believe KHI could help explain why Sun’s outer atmosphere is so hot and how magnetic energy builds up and moves around Sun, powering solar flares that can send bursts of energy towards Earth

SUN

12,430 miles
20,000km

62 miles
100km

Pictures: NSF/NSO/AURA/MPS , Ekrem Canli
Sources: Nature, National Solar Observatory
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