SOLAR POWER

Closest View of the Sun’s Surface Revealed in New Images

The images were the result of a happy solar accident.

Scientists have used the world’s most powerful solar telescope to capture new images of the sun in the finest detail yet. Researchers used the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope near the summit of Maui’s Haleakalā to reveal tiny, swirling patterns that resemble small whirlpools on the surface of the sun. While the images were originally taken to test the limits of the telescope, scientists realized they had actually captured the sun’s bright outer shell at higher resolution than ever before, including the feathering patterns rippling across the surface. “That reminds me of famous paintings, like the swirling skies in Van Gogh’s Starry Night,” solar physicist Ruizhu Chen at Stanford University told the Associated Press. Chen was not involved with the new research. The findings were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. The scientists suggested that the patterns are the signature of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, or KHI. KHI may be a key reason why the sun’s outer atmosphere gets so hot, and also why magnetic energy builds up and moves around on the sun. It could also help explain explosive solar activity and other solar phenomena. Scientists research the inner workings of the sun to track major bursts of energy known as coronal mass ejections which can hurtle toward Earth. They can trigger solar storms when they land, potentially scrambling GPS communications.