Hawaii telescope captures swirling, vortex-like patterns on sun’s surface
Astronomers using the Inouye Solar Telescope have identified Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the sun's surface, appearing as vortex-like patterns. These observations provide new insights into the solar photosphere and the physical processes that drive space weather.
Why it matters
These findings improve our ability to predict solar eruptions that can interfere with GPS, power grids, and global communications.
The sun’s visible surface, or photosphere, in an image taken by the Hawaii-based Inouye Solar Telescope, in this handout image released today. The image reveals deformed boundaries of magnetic elements and ultra-fine scale stripes, both associated with a phenomenon called Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.
WASHINGTON >> Astronomers have obtained the highest-resolution images to date of our sun's visible surface, observing swirling, vortex-like patterns in superheated solar gases reminiscent of the shapes depicted in the nocturnal sky in Vincent van Gogh's 1889 painting "The Starry Night."
The researchers made the observations of a portion of the sun's photosphere, a relatively thin layer about 60 miles in depth, compared to the overall solar diameter of roughly 865,000 miles, using the U.S. National Science Foundation's Hawaii-based Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in