The National Solar Observatory of USA released the highest resolution images and videos ever taken of the Sun.
The images, collected with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope of the National Science Foundation, show the Sun in unprecedented detail, revealing features for the first time, measuring just 30 kilometers.
The 4 meter long Inouye solar telescope is located near the top of the volcano Haleakala ("House of the Sun" in Hawaiian language) on the island of Maui in Hawaii, and these incredible images of the sun is his debut in the world.
We read in statements by France Córdova, director of the National Science Foundation (= NSF): “Ever since NSF started working with this ground-based telescope, we have been looking forward to the first images. We can now share these images and videos, which are the most detailed of the Sun to date. "Αυτό This telescope will improve our understanding of what causes space weather and ultimately help us better predict solar storms."
Thomas Rimmele, director of the Inouye Solar Telescope, explains: “It's all about the magnetic field. To overcome the greatest mysteries of the Sun, we must not only see clearly these tiny structures from 93 millions μίλια μακριά, αλλά με μεγάλη ακρίβεια να μετρήσουμε τη δύναμη και την κατεύθυνση του μαγνητικού πεδίου κοντά στην surface and detect it as it extends into the outer atmosphere of the Sun".
Finally, the team also released several videos. The close-up images were taken at a wavelength of 705nm, over a period of 10 minutes, and show the Sun's surface at a magnification of 30 km (18 miles) for the first time. The video shows the turbulent, superheated natural gas covering the entire Sun. The honeycomb-like structures, about the size of the US state of Texas, are the signature of violent motions that transport heat from the Sun's interior to its surface. The warm solar material (creature) rises in the bright centers of the hives, cools and then sinks beneath the surface into dark stripes.
"These first images are just the beginning," said David Boboltz, program director in NSF's astronomical sciences division. "The Inouye Solar Telescope, in its first 5 years of life, will collect more information about our Sun than all the solar data collected since the galileo marked the Sun with a telescope for the first time in 1612.”
For most of us, the Inouye Solar Telescope just means some amazing images. But for the astronomical community, it promises to usher in “a new era of solar scienceand a leap forward in understanding the Sun and its effects on our planet."