The highest resolution images ever taken of the Sun.

The US National Solar Observatory has released the highest resolution images and videos ever taken of the Sun.

Helium

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) 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): “Since NSF began working with this ground-based telescope, we've been eagerly awaiting the first images. We can now share these images and videos, which are the most detailed of the Sun to date. […] This telescope will improve our understanding of what causes space weather and ultimately help predict the solar storms".

Also, Thomas Rimmele, director of the Inouye Solar Telescope explains: “It's all about the magnetic field. To unravel the Sun's greatest mysteries, we need not only to clearly see these tiny structures from 93 million miles away, but to measure with great precision the strength and direction of the magnetic field near 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 (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 at NSF Astronomy. "The Inouye solar telescope during the first 5 years of its life will collect more information about our Sun than all the solar data collected since Galileo first marked the Sun with a telescope in 1612."

For most of us, the Inouye Solar Telescope means just some amazing images. But for the astronomical community, it promises to usher in "a new era of solar science and a leap forward in understanding the Sun and its effects on our planet."

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Written by Dimitris

Dimitris hates on Mondays .....

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