Swirling, Vortex-Like Patterns Observed on the Sun's Surface
The telescope’s 4-meter mirror and advanced optics revealed the sun’s photosphere in unprecedented detail and confirmed a long-predicted vortex instability.
- On August 5, 2026, the National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory released the highest-resolution images of the sun's surface, captured by the Hawaii-based Inouye Solar Telescope. The images reveal swirling, vortex-like patterns of superheated solar gases, confirming a phenomenon predicted by theory.
- First described by Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz around 1870, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability occurs when fluid or gas layers slide past one another, creating friction or "shear" along their boundary.
- Capturing data at a 416 nm wavelength, the Inouye images reveal instability wavelengths ranging between 50–65 km. Researchers achieved this resolution by pairing a massive four-meter mirror with state-of-the-art optics and instruments.
- Thomas Rimmele, Chief Technologist at the National Solar Observatory , stated that Kelvin-Helmholtz instability likely contributes to heating the sun's corona. This discovery provides the first experimental confirmation of a phenomenon long predicted by theoretical models.
- Understanding these dynamics helps scientists predict solar bursts that could disrupt satellites and power grids. Because the solar magnetic cycle lasts only 11 years, NSO researchers believe efficient magnetic flux dissipation is critical for understanding stellar evolution.
47 Articles
47 Articles
Never-Before-Seen Vortices Are Swirling Across the Sun
The world’s largest solar telescope and advanced computer simulations revealed vortices that are reshaping our understanding of the Sun. Across the Sun’s visible surface, hot plasma is constantly rising, cooling, and sinking. At the edges of these churning regions, researchers have now resolved tiny swirling structures that may help explain how the Sun twists, stores, [...]
Sharpest image of the sun ever captured! | Space photo of the day for Aug. 10, 2026
This image of the sun — the sharpest ever snapped — was captured by the NSF Inouye solar telescope. (Image credit: NSF, NSO, AURA, MPS, Inouye Tel)Scientists have captured the sharpest image ever of our sun's surface. This view has revealed incredible new details about the inner mechanisms driving stellar activity. What is it?An international team of researchers using the U.S. National Science Foundation's Inouye Solar Telescope has captured the…
This has been one of the most curious astronomical phenomena we have seen in 2026
The world's largest solar telescope resolved the Sun at about 19-km scale and revealed ubiquitous plasma vortices that may help explain how magnetic energy moves
Science News: The Sun may appear to us on Earth as a glowing ball of plasma, but its surface is far more active and turbulent than it looks, which has been proven t.
We caught an ocean of plasma waves “breaking” on the Sun
The Sun is so much more than a shining ball of energetic plasma. This incredible still image from the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is the highest-resolution image of the Sun’s surface (i.e., photosphere) ever acquired. The image is taken at a wavelength of 416 nanometers, and showcases several features known to arise in fluid flow, such as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Credit: NSF/NSO/AURA/MPS Its f…
Omaha World-Herald
Swirling, vortex-like patterns observed on the sun's surface
Astronomers have obtained the highest-resolution images to date of our sun's visible surface, observing swirling, vortex-like patterns in superheated solar gases reminiscent of the shapes depicted in Vincent van Gogh's 1889 painting "The Starry Night."
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