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Inouye Solar Telescope Captures Highest-Resolution Images of Sun's Surface
Just the facts
The National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on Maui, Hawaii, captured high-resolution images revealing small-scale plasma vortices and feathery patterns across the solar surface. Published in the journal Nature, the observations documented Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the sun, where magnetized plasma travels at varying speeds. Scientists originally recorded the images while testing and calibrating the telescope's four-meter primary mirror. Program directors from the National Solar Observatory stated that the imagery will assist solar physicists in modeling coronal mass ejections and space weather events that affect satellite communications and electrical systems on Earth.
Why this is news
Researchers utilizing the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on Maui, Hawaii, captured the highest-resolution images of the sun's surface to date.
Sources
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