The clearest images of the Sun's surface ever captured have been released, revealing intricate details that could provide new insights into the mysteries of solar storms.
According to CNN and the Associated Press, an international research team successfully observed the Sun's visible surface, known as the 'photosphere,' with unprecedented clarity using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope located on Maui, Hawaii. The findings were published on August 6 in the international journal Nature.
Initially, the team aimed to test the telescope's performance by photographing the Sun, but during the analysis, they discovered feather-like patterns and swirling structures that had not been identified before.
Louis Chen, a solar physicist at Stanford University who was not involved in the study, told the AP, "It reminds me of the swirling sky in Vincent van Gogh's 'Starry Night.'"
The researchers explained that this phenomenon is due to a physical process known as 'Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability' (KHI). KHI occurs when hot plasma on the Sun's surface, influenced by magnetic fields, flows at different speeds, creating small vortices. While this has been observed in Earth's clouds and oceans, as well as in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, it has never been seen so clearly on the Sun's surface before.
CNN reported that these tiny vortices likely contribute to the twisting of the Sun's magnetic field, accumulating vast amounts of energy that can eventually lead to solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), where the Sun releases large amounts of plasma and magnetic fields into space. The researchers also hope this will help explain why the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is much hotter than its surface.
When solar flares or CMEs head toward Earth, they can trigger solar storms that affect satellites, GPS, power grids, and communication systems. Conversely, auroras become more vivid around the polar regions.
The research team plans to conduct more precise observations to identify key mechanisms for predicting large solar flares and solar storms. A researcher from NASA's Parker Solar Probe project stated to CNN, "This observation opens a completely new chapter in understanding the Sun, and we expect more groundbreaking discoveries to follow."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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