New Images of the Sun Show Its Surface In the Finest Detail Yet (apnews.com) 27
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: Scientists have captured images of the sun's surface in the finest detail yet, revealing a strange and dynamic facade. It's dangerous to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. But researchers were able to peek at its scorching surface with the help of the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
Scientists originally took the images for a different reason: to fine-tune and test the limits of the telescope. But when they looked at the results, they realized they'd photographed the sun's bright outer shell at higher resolution than ever before. What's more, they saw strange feathery patterns rippling across the surface. "That reminds me of famous paintings, like the swirling skies in Van Gogh's Starry Night," said solar physicist Ruizhu Chen with Stanford University, who was not involved with the new research.
Researchers saw ripples of instability on the sun's surface caused by bits of magnetized plasma moving past each other at different speeds -- similar to waves that stir when a gust of wind blows over water. It's a well-known phenomenon that guides how fluids move. This has been glimpsed on Earth and other planets like Jupiter and Saturn, but "it has not been observed ever at that level on the solar surface," according to study co-author Friedrich Woger with the National Solar Observatory. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Scientists originally took the images for a different reason: to fine-tune and test the limits of the telescope. But when they looked at the results, they realized they'd photographed the sun's bright outer shell at higher resolution than ever before. What's more, they saw strange feathery patterns rippling across the surface. "That reminds me of famous paintings, like the swirling skies in Van Gogh's Starry Night," said solar physicist Ruizhu Chen with Stanford University, who was not involved with the new research.
Researchers saw ripples of instability on the sun's surface caused by bits of magnetized plasma moving past each other at different speeds -- similar to waves that stir when a gust of wind blows over water. It's a well-known phenomenon that guides how fluids move. This has been glimpsed on Earth and other planets like Jupiter and Saturn, but "it has not been observed ever at that level on the solar surface," according to study co-author Friedrich Woger with the National Solar Observatory. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
I want that for my screen saver! (Score:3)
Do you think it would prevent "burn-in", or cause it?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Oooh, plasma! I think I've heard about that in relation to the sun! A *plasma* screen with a *sun* screen saver. Cool!
I actually do miss my plasma TV. It had the *best* color rendering of any TV I've had. But it also used as much power as a refrigerator.
Obligatory stupid question (Score:2)
Did they find Smashmouth?
Okay, Ramakrishnan (Score:2)
Thanks.
Re: (Score:3)
Skip the photos (Score:2)
Just look at [theatlantic.com] the raw data directly. :-)
Re: (Score:2)
Never look straight in the sun's rays
Letting all the sunshine in
Can't remember where I've been, I've been
-Hüsker Du
None (Score:5, Informative)
A much better news piece [sciencealert.com]
The actual freaking images [nso.edu]
Enjoy.
Re: (Score:2)
I like how some look like the cracks that form in dried mud.
Re: (Score:2)
Surface? Of the Sun? (Score:2)
Is the "surface of the sun" in the room with us now?
Re: Surface? Of the Sun? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
No, there is no point at which the sun's plasma is "rock hard." But there is a point where it becomes opaque, which creates an illusion of a surface. And that's what the pictures are showing.
Dan Quayle (Score:2)
I thought this was a parody of one time Senator from Indiana and later Vice President:
Mars is essentially in the same orbit... Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe.
Re: (Score:2)
Astronomy 101 (Score:3)
Those of us who have rubbed elbows with our fellow student-athletes in Intro to Astronomy should know that the visible surface of the Sun is known as the photosphere, and it is the first layer at which the gas density has gotten low enough that photons are no longer trapped and can fly off into space, giving what we observe as sunlight.
Do we have to send a teacher to Tau Ceti now? (Score:2)
Very cool! (Score:2)
What's in a sunspot? (Score:2)
The most important question of all... (Score:2)
Can we finally know whether or not there is beer on the sun?!
Just land on the sun and check it out (Score:4, Funny)
Obviously you have to land during the night.
Re: (Score:3)
On the Dark Side of the Sun, of course.
The Liquid Sun (Score:1)