tech
Unprecedented images may explain one of greatest mysteries of the sun
Highest-ever resolution pictures of our star could help show why its corona is millions of degrees hotter than its surface
TL;DR
- The Inouye solar telescope in Hawaii has captured the most detailed images of the sun's surface ever.
- New features, smaller than 20km, including swirling vortices, have been observed.
- These structures, identified as Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities (KHIs), were previously unconfirmed on the sun.
- Scientists hypothesize that these KHIs could explain the extreme heat of the sun's corona compared to its surface.
- Understanding these processes is crucial as explosive solar events can disrupt Earth's power grids, satellites, and communication systems.