Incredible close-up photos of the sun via world's most powerful solar telescope
The world’s most powerful ground-based solar telescope have given us a spectacular look at various sunspots and quiet regions of the sun in unprecedented detail with the release of eight photos earlier this month.
The world’s most powerful ground-based solar telescope have given us a spectacular look at various sunspots and quiet regions of the sun in unprecedented detail with the release of eight photos earlier this month.
The National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope is helping solar scientists better understand the sun’s magnetic field and what causes explosive solar storms, according to the NSF.
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A detailed example of a light bridge crossing a sunspot’s umbra. In this picture, the presence of convection cells surrounding the sunspot is also evident. Hot solar material (plasma) rises in the bright centers of these surrounding "cells," cools off, and then sinks below the surface in dark lanes in a process known as convection. The detailed image shows complex light bridge and convection cell structures on the Sun’s surface or photosphere. Light bridge: A bright solar feature that spans across an umbra from one penumbra to the other. It is a complex structure, taking different forms and phases, and is believed to be the signature of the start of a decaying sunspot. Umbra: Dark, central region of a sunspot where the magnetic field is strongest.
(NSF/AURA/NSO Image Processing: Friedrich Wöger(NSO), Catherine Fischer (NSO) Science Credit: Philip Lindner at Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS))
This image, taken by Inouye Solar Telescope in coordination with the ESA’s Solar Orbiter, reveals the fibrillar nature of the solar atmosphere. In the atmosphere, or chromosphere, fine, dark threads of plasma (fibril) are visible emanating from the magnetic network below. The outline of bright structures are signature of the presence of magnetic fields.
(NSF/AURA/NSO Image Processing: Friedrich Wöger(NSO), Catherine Fischer (NSO) Science Credit: Public DDT Data)
This image reveals the fine structures of a sunspot in the photosphere. Within the dark, central area of the sunspot’s umbra, small-scale bright dots, known as umbral dots, are seen. The elongated structures surrounding the umbra are visible as bright-headed strands known as penumbral filaments. Umbra: Dark, central region of a sunspot where the magnetic field is strongest. Penumbra: The brighter, surrounding region of a sunspot’s umbra characterized by bright filamentary structures.
(NSF/AURA/NSO Image Processing: Friedrich Wöger(NSO), Catherine Fischer (NSO) Science Credit: Rolf Schlichenmaier at Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS))
The lower atmosphere (chromosphere) of the Sun exists above the Sun’s surface (photosphere). In this image, dark, fine threads (fibrils) are visible in the chromosphere emanating from sources in the photosphere – notably, the dark pores/umbral fragments and their fine structure. A pore is a concentration of magnetic field where conditions are not met to form a penumbra. Pores are essentially sunspots that have not had or will never have a penumbra. Penumbra: The brighter, surrounding region of a sunspot’s umbra characterized by bright filamentary structures.
(NSF/AURA/NSO Image Processing: Friedrich Wöger(NSO), Catherine Fischer (NSO) Science Credit: Juan Martínez-Sykora (Bay Area Environmental Research Institute))
A light bridge is seen crossing a sunspot’s umbra from one end of the penumbra to the other. Light bridges are believed to be the signature of the start of a decaying sunspot, which will eventually break apart. Light bridges are very complex, taking different forms and phases. It is unknown how deep these structures form. This image shows one example of a light bridge in remarkable detail. Umbra: Dark, central region of a sunspot where the magnetic field is strongest. Penumbra: The brighter, surrounding region of a sunspot’s umbra characterized by bright filamentary structures.
(NSF/AURA/NSO Image Processing: Friedrich Wöger(NSO), Catherine Fischer (NSO) Science Credit: Tetsu Anan (NSO))
In this image, the fibrillar nature of the solar atmosphere is exemplified. Dark, fine threads (fibrils) are ubiquitous in the chromosphere. The outline of bright structures are signature of the presence of magnetic fields in the photosphere below. This image was captured by the Inouye Solar Telescope during a coordinated observation campaign with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and ESA’s Solar Orbiter.
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In this image, the fine-structure of the quiet Sun is observed at its surface or photosphere. Heating plasma rises in the bright, convective "bubbles" (granules) then cools and falls into the dark, intergranular lanes. Within these intergranular lanes, bright structures are observed, indicating the manifestations or signatures of magnetic field. The Inouye Solar Telescope helps to detect these "small" magnetic elements in great detail.
(NSF/AURA/NSO Image Processing: Friedrich Wöger(NSO), Catherine Fischer (NSO))
The sunspots in the images are dark and cooler regions on the sun’s surface, known as the photosphere, where strong magnetic fields are found, according to the National Solar Observatory.
And while sunspots can be a variety of sizes, the NSO says many are the size of Earth or larger. Groups of sunspots can be the source of explosive events, like solar flares and coronal mass ejections that generate solar storms significantly impacting Earth, including disruptions to critical infrastructure or leading to vibrant northern lights displays.
The NSO said that in the quiet regions of the sun, the images show a vast display of convection cells in the photosphere that have a pattern of upward-flowing plasma (granules) surrounded by darker lanes of cooler, down-flowing solar plasma.
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Imagery from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured imagery of a powerful solar flare bursting from the sun. (Courtesy: NASA SDO)
Above the photosphere in the chromosphere, photos show dark, elongated fibrils that originate from areas of small-scale magnetic field accumulations, according to the NSO.
The recently released photos of the sun only make up a small fraction of data obtained from the first cycle of the Inouye Solar Telescope. The NSO said the newly inaugurated telescope is still in its Operations Commissioning Phase, a period in which the telescope is slowly brought up to its full operational capabilities.