The US National Solar Observatory has released the highest resolution images and videos ever taken of the Sun.
The images, collected with the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, show the Sun in unprecedented detail, revealing for the first time features as small as 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 better the solar storms".
Thomas Rimmele, director of the Inouye Solar Telescope, explains: “It's all about the magnetic field. To overcome the Sun's greatest mysteries, we must not only look clearly at these tiny structures 93 million miles away, but also accurately measure the strength and direction of the magnetic field near the surface and locate it as it extends into outer atmosphere of the Sun ”.
Finally, the team also released a lot of videos. The close-ups were taken at a wavelength of 705nm, for a period of 10 minutes and show the surface of the Sun at a magnification of 30 km (18 miles) for the first time. The video shows the turbulent, superheated gas that covers the entire Sun. The cell-like structures are the size of the US state of Texas and are the signature of the violent movements that transfer heat from inside the Sun to its surface. The hot solar material (creature) rises in the bright centers of the cells, cools and then sinks beneath the surface into dark stripes.
“Αυτές οι πρώτες εικόνες είναι μόνο η αρχή”, δήλωσε ο David Boboltz, διευθυντής προγράμματος στο τμήμα των αστρονομικών επιστημών του NSF. “Το ηλιακό τηλεσκόπιο Inouye κατά τα πρώτα 5 χρόνια της ζωής του, θα συλλέξει περισσότερες information για τον Ήλιο μας από ό,τι όλα τα ηλιακά δεδομένα που συγκεντρώθηκαν από τότε που ο Galileo marked the Sun with a telescope for the first time 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."
