Telescope reveals most detailed images of the Sun
30 January 2020
The largest solar telescope in the world, which was built by a team involving UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory engineers and scientists, has captured the clearest and most detailed images of the Sun yet.
The first images and videos from the National Science Foundationâs (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope reveal unprecedented detail of the Sunâs surface, with experts saying it will enable a new era of solar science and a leap forward in understanding the Sun and its impacts on our planet.
The new images from NSFâs Inouye Solar Telescope 4-meter solar telescope, which sits near the summit of HaleakalÄ in HawaiÊ»i, show a close-up view of the Sunâs surface including a pattern of turbulent âboiling' plasma that covers the entire Sun. The images also show cell-like structures â each about the size of Texas â that are signatures of violent motions, which transport heat from inside the Sun to its surface.
Professor Sarah Matthews (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory), said: âThe new images will help us study the Sunâs atmosphere in extraordinary levels of detail. In addition to working on ground-based telescopes, my team co-led the development of the EUV imaging telescope (EUI) on board the Solar Orbiter mission, which is due to launch from Cape Canaveral next month, to study the Sun up close. We hope our instrument will provide images of the hotter layers of the Sunâs chromosphere and corona that, together with the images captured from NSFâs Inouye Solar Telescope, will open up a new era in Solar Physics.â
The new images were taken with cameras developed and supplied to the project by a UK consortium which is led by Queenâs University Belfast. It involves seven other UK institutes and industry including UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Andor Technology, Armagh Observatory, University of Glasgow, Northumbria University, University of Sheffield, St. Andrews University and University of Warwick, with funding provided by UK Research and Innovationâs Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Project Manager, Craig Leff (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory), said: âWe worked closely with colleagues at Queenâs University Belfast and Andor Technology to ensure that the design specifications for the new cameras on the NSFâs Inouye Solar Telescope were met in order so that they were technically capable of revealing the Sunâs surface in unprecedented detail. In particular, we wanted to capture the origin and evolution of the solar magnetic field at the finest scales, which Iâm pleased to say we achieved.â
Resolving these tiny magnetic features is central to what makes the Inouye Solar Telescope unique. It can measure and characterize the Sunâs magnetic field in more detail than ever seen before and determine the causes of potentially harmful solar activity.
âItâs all about the magnetic field,â said Thomas Rimmele, director of the Inouye Solar Telescope. âTo unravel the Sunâs biggest mysteries, we have to not only be able to clearly see these tiny structures from 93 million miles away but very precisely measure their magnetic field strength and direction near the surface and trace the field as it extends out into the million-degree corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun.â
Professor Mihalis Mathioudakis of Queenâs University Belfast, who led the UK consortium, said: âThe imaging produced by the Inouye Solar Telescope opens new horizons in solar physics. Its imaging capability allows us to study the physical processes at work in the Sunâs atmosphere at unprecedented levels of detail. We worked hard over the past few years with Belfast-based Andor Technology to develop the cameras that equip the Inouye Solar Telescope and it is highly rewarding to now see this fascinating imaging.â
NSFâs new ground-based Inouye Solar Telescope will work with space-based solar observation tools such as NASAâs Parker Solar Probe (currently in orbit around the Sun) and the European Space Agency/NASA Solar Orbiter (soon to be launched). The three solar observation initiatives will expand the frontiers of solar research and improve scientistsâ ability to predict space weather.
âThese first images are just the beginning,â said David Boboltz, program director in NSFâs division of astronomical sciences and who oversees the facilityâs construction and operations. âOver the next six months, the Inouye telescopeâs team of scientists, engineers and technicians will continue testing and commissioning the telescope to make it ready for use by the international solar scientific community. The Inouye Solar Telescope will collect more information about our Sun during the first 5 years of its lifetime than all the solar data gathered since Galileo first pointed a telescope at the Sun in 1612.â
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Images
- The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has produced the highest resolution image of the Sunâs surface ever taken. The image shows a pattern of turbulent, âboilingâ gas that covers the entire sun. The cell-like structures â each about the size of Texas â are the signature of violent motions that transport heat from the inside of the sun to its surface. (Credit:Ìę)
Media contact
Bex Caygill
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Email: r.caygill [at] ucl.ac.uk