The 'sharpest-ever' photo of the Sun has been captured, revealing 'hidden' magnetic stripes on its surface.
Scientists from the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Hawaii used the most powerful solar telescope on Earth to take the incredible photo.
The Inouye Solar Telescope was used alongside a special Visible Broadband Imager camera and a G-band - a specific light wavelength that highlights magnetic activity - to capture the ground-breaking new photo.
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You can even spot thin, stripe-like patterns, called striations, on the Sun’s surface. This is the first time they've ever been seen.
The stripes are only about 20 kilometers wide, so roughly the size of Manhattan, and are caused by thin, sheet-like magnetic fields on the Sun.
In the paper, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, scientists explained how they act like 'curtains or fabric blowing in the wind', changing how light comes through.
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Depending on how strong or weak the magnetic field is, the stripe appears brighter or darker. Fascinating stuff!
These fine magnetic patterns are 'fingerprints' of the Sun's magnetic activity, NSO scientist Dr David Kuridze, the study’s lead author, explained.
Studying these phenomena can deepen scientists' understanding of how magnetism operates on the Sun, leading to more accurate predictions of solar flares, eruptions and space weather.
These can impact technology here on Earth, including satellites, power grids and GPS.
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For example, geomagnetic storms caused by coronal mass ejections have the power to affect currents in power lines, leading to power outages.
“This is just one of many firsts for the Inouye, demonstrating how it continues to push the frontier of solar research,” NSO associate director for the NSF Inouye Solar Telescope, Dr David Boboltz, said.
“It also underscores Inouye’s vital role in understanding the small-scale physics that drive space weather events that impact our increasingly technological society here on Earth.”
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Sharing the dazzling photo to Reddit's R/SpacePorn community, one social media user wrote: “SHARPEST-EVER view of the Sun’s surface with 20km resolution.”
The post received thousands of up-votes and hundreds of comments people in awe.
“This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen," one person wrote, adding: “Also the scale at the bottom, 5k km is wild.”
“Forbidden bubble wrap,” a second joked, as a third typed: “Damn. That's pretty distinct.”
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Others weren't so keen, though. “I don't like this, it freaks me out for whatever reason,” one person wrote.
A second agreed: “To me it just doesn’t look real. Like I know it is, but it’s so alien that it just doesn’t seem right.”
I'll be seeing the Sun in a whole new way now. Thanks, science!
Topics: Science, Space, Reddit, Social Media, Viral
Ellie Kemp