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Plasma waves spotted on sun’s surface for the first time
Yahoo • • general
Key Points:
- Astronomers have captured unprecedented detailed images of the sun's surface using the world's largest solar telescope, revealing plasma vortices as small as 12 miles wide.
- The observations were made possible by the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, combined with imaging technology from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) and computer simulations.
- The sun's photosphere, a thin but dynamic layer where visible light is emitted, shows complex granules ranging from 310 to 1,240 miles across, shaped by convection currents and magnetic fields.
- The study identified Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities on the sun's surface, fluid dynamic phenomena where shear flows create waves and vortices, previously observed in other natural environments but now confirmed on the sun.
- These findings, published in Nature, enhance understanding of minute plasma processes that significantly influence the sun's behavior and characteristics.
