{"id":46796,"date":"2025-04-24T14:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/46796\/"},"modified":"2025-04-24T14:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:17:10","slug":"the-sun-as-youve-never-seen-it-scientists-reveal-the-most-detailed-photo-of-our-home-star-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/46796\/","title":{"rendered":"The sun as you’ve NEVER seen it: Scientists reveal the most detailed photo of our home star yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the super-hot, churning ball of plasma whose surface reaches temperatures of 5,500\u00b0C (10,000F).<\/p>\n

Now, scientists have released the most detailed photo of our sun yet \u2013 and it gives a close-up glimpse of its intense magnetic energy.<\/p>\n

The image was captured by the world\u2019s most powerful solar telescope, which takes 2D snapshots of the sun at a range of wavelengths.<\/p>\n

Several hundred images are taken in just a few seconds by three synchronised cameras using different settings \u2013 similar to taking a series of photographs using different filters.<\/p>\n

Combining these images allows for a 3D view of the sun\u2019s structures \u2013 as seen in this remarkable picture.<\/p>\n

The newly released image reveals a cluster of sunspots on the Sun\u2019s surface, measuring approximately 25,000km by 25,000km.<\/p>\n

Sunspots – areas of intense magnetic activity – often lead to solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which are what is responsible for our Northern Light displays on Earth.<\/p>\n

The image achieves a spatial resolution of 10km per pixel \u2013 showing the sunspots in unprecedented detail.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The incredible image shows a cluster of sun spots – areas of intense magnetic energy.\u00a0Each pixel in the original version of the image corresponds to 10 km (or 6.2 miles) on the Sun<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Visible Tunable Filter\u2019s (VTF) optical device, called an etalon, is pictured here. It consists of two reflecting plates which can measure small differences in the flux of light for different wavelengths<\/p>\n

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope was first installed at the National Solar Observatory (NSO) near the summit of Maui\u2019s Haleakal\u0101 volcano in 2022.<\/p>\n

It has now achieved \u2018first light\u2019 \u2013 used to describe the first time a telescope lens is exposed to the night sky \u2013 with its most advanced instrument, the new Visible Tunable Filter (VTF).<\/p>\n

Designed and built in Germany, the VTF arrived at the observatory last year and has since been carefully installed.<\/p>\n

It weighs 5.6 tons and has a footprint roughly the size of a small garage, occupying two floors.<\/p>\n

While it is not yet fully operational, science verification and commissioning are expected to begin in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u2018Seeing those first spectral scans was a surreal moment,\u2019 said Dr. Stacey Sueoka, Senior Optical Engineer at the observatory.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is something no other instrument in the telescope can achieve in the same way.<\/p>\n

\u2018It marked the culmination of months of optical alignment, testing, and cross-continental teamwork.<\/p>\n

\"Near <\/p>\n

Near the summit of Maui\u2019s Haleakal\u0101, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope – and its set of cutting-edge solar instruments, such as the Visible Tunable Filter – is set to pave the way for a deeper understanding of our home star<\/p>\n

\"Engineers <\/p>\n

Engineers and scientists work on the Visible Tunable Filter (VTF) inside the Coud\u00e9 Lab at the Inouye Solar Telescope, preparing the instrument for its first light<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re already seeing the instrument\u2019s potential. This is only the beginning, and I\u2019m excited to see what\u2019s possible as we complete the system, integrate the second etalon [optical device], and move toward science verification and commissioning.\u2019<\/p>\n

The team said their new instrument may help reveal hidden details about the solar magnetic field, which is crucial for understanding solar flares and space weather.<\/p>\n

The sun regularly displays powerful eruptions that hurl particles and radiation into space.<\/p>\n

On Earth, this solar bombardment can trigger spectacular auroras \u2013 Northern Lights – but can also disrupt technical infrastructure and satellites.<\/p>\n

Carrie Black, NSF program director, said: \u2018When powerful solar storms hit Earth, they impact critical infrastructure across the globe and in space.<\/p>\n

\u2018High-resolution observations of the sun are necessary to improve predictions of such damaging storms.\u2019<\/p>\n

On our increasingly technological Earth, sudden solar storms can cause devastating damage to critical infrastructure, and disable large portions of the electrical power grid, communications networks, or space systems.<\/p>\n

This new instrument can analyse crucial properties such as plasma flow velocity, magnetic field strength, pressure and temperature.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A solar superstorm, strong enough to cause an ‘internet apocalypse’, knock out satellites and cripple clean water supplies could hit Earth ‘at any moment’, experts have warned (stock image)<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

\u2018The commissioning of VTF represents a significant technological advance for the Inouye Solar Telescope,\u2019 said Matthias Schubert, VTF project scientist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018The instrument is, so to speak, the heart of the solar telescope, which is now finally beating at its final destination.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u00a0Dr. Thomas Kentischer, KIS Co-Principal Investigator and key architect behind the instrument\u2019s optical design, said: ‘After all these years of work, VTF is a great success for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I hope this instrument will become a powerful tool for scientists to answer outstanding questions on solar physics.’<\/p>\n

SUN: THE BASICS\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The sun is the star at the heart of the Solar System, a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, radiating energy.<\/p>\n

It has a diameter of 1.39 million km, and is 330,000 times the mass of the Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three quarters of the star is made of hydrogen, followed by helium, oxygen, carbon, neon and iron.<\/p>\n

It is a G-type main sequence star and is sometimes called a yellow dwarf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sun formed from the gravitational collapse of matter in a large molecular cloud that gathered in the centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rest flattened into an orbiting disc that formed everything else.<\/p>\n

Facts and Figures\u00a0<\/p>\n

Name: Sun\u00a0<\/p>\n

Known planets: Eight<\/p>\n

Spectral type: G2<\/p>\n

Distance to Earth:\u00a0150 million km<\/p>\n

Distance from galactic center:\u00a025,800 light-years\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mass:\u00a01.9885\u00d710^30 kg<\/p>\n

Radius:\u00a0696,342 km<\/p>\n

Luminosity: 3.828\u00d710^26 W<\/p>\n

Temperature: 9,929 F<\/p>\n

Age: 4.6 billion years\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the super-hot, churning ball of plasma whose surface reaches temperatures of 5,500\u00b0C (10,000F). Now, scientists have released…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[92,2396,70,261,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-46796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-graphics","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-sciencetech","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114393372837188112","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}