A new study using the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has revealed stunning images of the Sun’s surface, capturing structures about 12 miles across. The radiant ‘curtains’ are thin and driven by fluctuations in magnetic fields that emerge from the surrounding plasma.
Researchers at the National Solar Observatory led by David Kuridze have achieved an unprecedented spatial resolution of just 20 kilometers. This allows them to investigate the fine-scale structure of the solar surface for the first time, providing fresh insight into the Sun’s behavior.
The striations are thought to be caused by heating and cooling of plasma and appear at the edges of larger solar convection bubbles. The brightness and darkness of the stripes depend on the strength of the magnetic field, which can shift their properties when weakened compared to its surroundings.
Simulations of the phenomenon have matched the telescope’s observations, shedding light on the complex physics behind the Sun’s surface weather. This discovery has implications for understanding heat, magnetism, and movement in the Universe.
The Inouye telescope, launched in 2022, will continue to provide valuable data for studying solar events like sunspots and solar eruptions, which can impact Earth. The research, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, marks another milestone for the telescope’s contributions to solar research.
Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/stunning-solar-curtains-phenomenon-revealed-on-the-sun-in-new-images